Coordinate input processing apparatus, emotion estimation apparatus, emotion estimation system, and building apparatus for building emotion estimation-oriented database

ABSTRACT

A coordinate input processing apparatus includes a position detection apparatus and a communication circuit. The position detection apparatus includes a sensor which detects a position pointed to by an electronic pen, and circuitry which acquires pen state information regarding a state of the electronic pen held by a person. The communication circuit transmits to an emotion estimation apparatus coordinates corresponding to the position pointed to by the electronic pen and the pen state information in an emotional state estimation request, and receives from the emotion estimation apparatus the coordinates corresponding to the position pointed to by the electronic pen, the pen state information included in the emotional state estimation request, and the information regarding the distracted state of the person holding the electronic pen in an emotional state estimation response having the same format as the emotional state estimation request.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a coordinate input processingapparatus, an emotion estimation apparatus, an emotion estimationsystem, and a building apparatus for building an emotionestimation-oriented database.

Background Art

Heretofore, there have been various attempts to estimate a person'semotional state by measuring biological information regarding thatperson such as his or her brain waves. For example, Patent Document 1(see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-131328) discloses a method andan apparatus for measuring brain waves using a simpleelectroencephalograph to acquire brain wave information by which todiscriminate a person's preference and physiological state.

Patent Document 2 (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2015-109964) offersa method that involves measuring biological information other than brainwaves such as pulse rate and blood flow regarding a target person and,based on the correlation between the measured biological information andbrain waves, estimating the target person's brain waves associated withthe measured biological information, the estimated brain wavesconstituting a characteristic pattern that permits estimation of thetarget person's emotion.

PRIOR ART DOCUMENT Patent Documents

-   Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-131328-   Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2015-109964

BRIEF SUMMARY Technical Problems

Recent years have witnessed the growing use of an electronic pen as aninput apparatus for use with electronic equipment. If an emotion of auser using the electronic pen during input work is discriminated(estimated), the user can be offered support corresponding to thediscriminated (estimated) emotion, which is convenient.

For example, if the emotion of a worker using electronic pen duringinput work is discriminated (estimated) to be distracted, the worker maybe alerted. If the worker is discriminated (estimated) to be in theemotional state of irritation, it is possible to support the worker byoffering emotionally relaxing music to the worker, for example.

To implement the above measures requires discriminating (estimating) thereal-time emotional state of the user at the time of input work usingthe electronic pen. This presumably calls for using the techniquesdisclosed in the above-cited Patent Documents 1 and 2. However, it isnot realistic for the user to wear a simple electroencephalograph andbiological information sensors during input work using the electronicpen. Moreover, given the high cost of requiring each worker to wear thesimple electroencephalograph and biological information sensors, thismay well turn out to be an unrealistic practice.

The present disclosure has been made in view of the above circumstances.An object of the disclosure is therefore to discriminate (estimate) thereal-time emotional state of an input worker at the time of input workusing an electronic pen without requiring the input worker to wear asimple electroencephalograph or biological information sensors.

Technical Solution

In solving the above problem, the disclosure according to the appendedclaim 1 provides a coordinate input processing apparatus including: aposition detection apparatus that includes a sensor which, in operation,detects a position pointed to by an electronic pen, and circuitry which,in operation, acquires pen state information regarding a state of theelectronic pen held by a person; a transmitter which, in operation,transmit to an emotion estimation apparatus an emotional stateestimation request including the pen state information acquired by theposition detection apparatus, the emotion estimation apparatus includingan emotion estimation-oriented information storage device which, inoperation, stores information regarding an emotional state of the personholding the electronic pen and range information regarding a range ofvalues that may be taken by the pen state information regarding thestate of the electronic pen held by the person at a time of theemotional state, the emotional state and the range information beingassociated with one another; and a processor which, in operation,receives information corresponding to the emotional state transmittedfrom the emotion estimation apparatus in response to the pen stateinformation included in the emotional state estimation requesttransmitted from the transmitter, and performs processing using thereceived information corresponding to the emotional state.

Also, the disclosure according to the appended claim 8 provides anemotion estimation apparatus including: an emotion estimation-orientedinformation storage device which, in operation, stores informationregarding an emotional state of a person holding an electronic pen andrange information regarding a range of values that may be taken by penstate information regarding a state of the electronic pen held by theperson at the time of being in the emotional state, the informationregarding the emotional state and the range information being associatedwith one another; and a processor which, upon receipt of an emotionalstate estimation request including the pen state information regardingthe electronic pen, estimates the emotional state of the person holdingthe electronic pen having transmitted the request information byreferencing the emotion estimation-oriented information storage deviceby use of the received pen state information.

Further, the disclosure according to the appended claim 16 provides abuilding apparatus that builds an emotion estimation-orientedinformation storage device, the building apparatus including: at leastone processor; and at least one storage device storingprocessor-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least oneprocessor, cause the building apparatus to: acquire biologicalinformation regarding a person performing pointing input using anelectronic pen, acquire pen state information regarding the state of theelectronic pen held by the person performing the pointing input andassociated with the biological information; discriminate an emotionalstate of the person holding the electronic pen based on the acquiredbiological information; obtain range information regarding a range ofvalues that may be taken by the pen state information at the time of thediscriminated emotional state from the acquired pen state information;and store the discriminated emotional state and the range informationregarding the range of values that may be taken by the pen stateinformation into the emotion estimation-oriented information storagedevice, the discriminated emotional state and the range informationbeing associated with one another.

In general, the hand and fingertips of the worker holding the electronicpen move in a manner reflecting the worker's emotional state at the timeof work. Thus the electronic pen held by the worker is at a heightposition, is tilted relative to the sensor input sur-face, and is underwriting pressure in a manner reflecting the worker's emotional stateduring work. That is, there are correlations between the emotional stateof the worker holding the electronic pen on the one hand and the penstate information regarding the state of the electronic pen such as theheight position and its variations, the tilt and its variations, and thewriting pressure and its variations of the electronic pen on the otherhand.

Thus according to the present disclosure, there is provided beforehandthe emotion estimation-oriented information storage device that storesthe emotional state of the person holding the electronic pen and therange information regarding the range of values that may be taken by thepen state information regarding the state of the electronic pen held bythe person at the time of being in the emotional state, the emotion-alstate and the range information being associated with one another. Theemotion estimation-oriented information storage device, included in theemotion estimation apparatus, has content constituted by the biologicalinformation regarding the person performing pointing input using theelectronic pen and by the pen state information regarding the state ofthe electronic pen held by the person associated with the biologicalinformation and carrying out the pointing input.

The emotional states here include a relaxed state, a concentrated state,an irritated state, and a distracted state, for example. Used as the penstate information are, for example, the writing pressure and itsvariations applied to the stylus of the electronic pen, the heightposition and its variations of the electronic pen relative to thesensor, the tilt and its variations of the electronic pen relative tothe sensor surface, and movements in the X and Y axis directions of thesensor not in contact with the electronic pen. What is stored in theemotion estimation-oriented information storage device is theinformation associating each emotional state with the range informationregarding the range of values that may be taken by the pen stateinformation regarding the electronic pen held by the person at the timeof being in the emotional state.

The emotion estimation-oriented information storage device may beimplemented by the building apparatus that builds an emotionestimation-oriented information storage device according to the appendedclaim 16. That is, acquired first is the biological informationregarding the person performing pointing input using the electronic pen,as well as the pen state information regarding the state of theelectronic pen held by the person performing the pointing input andassociated with the biological information. The emotional state of theperson holding the electronic pen is then discriminated on the basis ofthe acquired biological information. The range information regarding therange of values that may be taken by the pen state information at thetime of the discriminated emotional state is obtained from the acquiredpen state information. The discriminated emotional state and the rangeinformation regarding the range of values that may be taken by the penstate information are stored into the emotion estimation-orientedinformation storage device, the discriminated emotional state and therange information being associated with one another.

The coordinate input processing apparatus configured as outlined aboveaccording to the appended claim 1 includes the position detectionapparatus, transmitter, and processor. The position detection apparatusincludes the sensor which, in operation, detects a position pointed bythe electronic pen, and acquires the pen state information regarding thestate of the electronic pen held by the user. Acquired here as the penstate information are, for example, the writing pressure and itsvariations applied to the stylus of the electronic pen, the heightposition and its variations of the electronic pen relative to thesensor, the tilt and its variations of the electronic pen relative tothe sensor surface, and movements in the X and Y axis directions of thesensor not in con-tact with the electronic pen, as described above.

The transmitter of the coordinate input processing apparatus accordingto the appended claim 1 transmits an emotional state estimation requestincluding the acquired pen state information to the emotion estimationapparatus. The disclosure according to the appended claim 8 relates tothe emotion estimation apparatus.

That is, with the emotion estimation apparatus according to the appendedclaim 8, upon receipt of an emotional state estimation request includingthe pen state information regarding the state of the electronic pen, theemotional state of the user of the electronic pen having transmitted therequest information is estimated by referencing the emotionestimation-oriented information storage device by use of the receivedpen state information. Information corresponding to the estimatedemotional state is returned to the coordinate input processing apparatushaving made the emotional state estimation request.

Upon receipt of the information corresponding to the estimated emotionalstate from the emotion estimation apparatus, the coordinate inputprocessing apparatus according to the appended claim 1 performsprocessing associated with the received information corresponding to theemotional state.

According to the coordinate input processing apparatus of the presentdisclosure, as outlined above, the emotional state estimation requestincluding the acquired pen state information need only be transmitted tothe emotion estimation apparatus. This makes it possible to know theestimated emotional state of the electronic pen user at the time,allowing information processing to be carried out in a manner associatedwith the emotional state.

Advantageous Effect

The present disclosure provides an advantageous effect of estimating thereal-time emotional state of an input worker at the time of input workusing the electronic pen without requiring the input worker to wear asimple electroencephalograph or biological information sensors, so thatsuitable processing is performed to address the estimated emotionalstate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram explaining a building apparatus forbuilding an emotion estimation-oriented information storage device asone embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram depicting typical electric circuitconfigurations of an electronic pen and a tablet terminal making up theembodiment in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting a typical configuration of anemotion server apparatus making up the embodiment in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram explaining an example of the buildingapparatus for building the emotion estimation-oriented informationstorage device as the embodiment in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 5 is a tabular diagram explaining the example of the buildingapparatus for building the emotion estimation-oriented informationstorage device as the embodiment in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 6 is a tabular diagram explaining an example of the emotionestimation-oriented information storage device built by the buildingapparatus for building the emotion estimation-oriented informationstorage device as the embodiment in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 7 is a flowchart explaining a typical flow of operationalprocessing performed by the building apparatus for building the emotionestimation-oriented information storage device as the embodiment in FIG.1 .

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram explaining an outline of a buildingapparatus for building an emotion estimation-oriented informationstorage device as another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram explaining the building apparatus forbuilding the emotion estimation-oriented information storage device asthe other embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram depicting typical electric circuitconfigurations of an electronic pen and a tablet terminal making up theembodiment in FIG. 8 .

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram explaining an outline of a buildingapparatus for building an emotion estimation-oriented informationstorage device as a further embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram depicting typical electric circuitconfigurations of an electronic pen and a tablet terminal making up theembodiment in FIG. 11 .

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram explaining a typical overallconfiguration of a system that includes an emotion estimation apparatusas an even further embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram depicting typical electric circuitconfigurations of an electronic pen and a tablet terminal making up theembodiment in FIG. 13 .

FIG. 15 is a block diagram depicting a typical configuration of theemotion server apparatus making up the embodiment in FIG. 13 .

FIG. 16 is a flowchart explaining a typical flow of operationalprocessing performed by the tablet terminal making up the embodiment inFIG. 13 .

FIG. 17 is a flowchart explaining a typical flow of operationalprocessing performed by the emotion server apparatus making up theembodiment in FIG. 13 .

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram explaining the embodiment in FIG. 13 .

FIG. 19 is a schematic diagram explaining typical signal formats used bythe building apparatus for building the emotion estimation-orientedinformation storage device, by the emotion estimation apparatus, and byan emotion estimation system as the embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram explaining key features of the emotionestimation system as yet another embodiment of the present disclosure.

MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE DISCLOSURE

The preferred embodiments for practicing the present disclosure aredescribed below. Explained first is a building apparatus for building anemotion estimation-oriented information storage device embodying thedisclosure.

First Example of the Building System for Building the EmotionEstimation-Oriented Information Storage Device

FIG. 1 outlines a first configuration example of a building system forbuilding an emotion estimation-oriented information storage deviceincluding an embodiment of the building apparatus for building theemotion estimation-oriented information storage device. This example isa case in which an electroencephalograph is used to discriminate theemotional state of a person. In the description that follows, theemotion estimation-oriented information storage device will be referredto as the emotion estimation-oriented database.

In the first configuration example, as depicted in FIG. 1 , anelectronic pen user 3 holding an electronic pen 1 performs pointinginput to a tablet terminal 2 equipped with a position detectionapparatus that detects pointing input by the electronic pen 1. In thisexample, the electronic pen 1 and the position detection apparatus ofthe tablet terminal 2 operate by electromagnetic induction couplingtechnology.

In this example, the electronic pen 1 has the function of detecting thewriting pressure applied to the tip of its stylus. The electronic pen 1also stores identification information for identifying itself (pen ID).The electronic pen 1 transmits information regarding the detectedwriting pressure and the pen ID, along with a position detection signal,to the position detection apparatus of the tablet terminal 2. Theelectronic pen 1 is owned by the user 3, so that the pen ID serves asthe identification information identifying the user 3. The writingpressure applied to the electronic pen 1 is detected by knowntechniques, which will not be discussed further hereunder.

On the basis of the position detection signal from the electronic pen 1,the position detection apparatus of the tablet terminal 2 detects theposition pointed by the electronic pen 1 using electromagnetic inductioncoupling technology. In this example, the electronic pen 1 includes aresonance circuit made up of a coil and a capacitor. The resonancecircuit receives an alternating-current signal sent from the positiondetection apparatus of the tablet terminal 2. The electronic pen 1 feedsthe received AC signal as its position detection signal back to theposition detection apparatus of the tablet terminal 2.

The electronic pen 1 changes the frequency of the AC signal (resonancefrequency) fed from the resonance circuit back to the position detectionapparatus of the tablet terminal 2. In so doing, the electronic pen 1transmits the writing pressure information to the position detectionapparatus of the tablet terminal 2. The electronic pen 1 also modulates,by amplitude shift keying (ASK) or by on-off keying (OOK), for example,the AC signal fed from the resonance circuit as a digital signal back tothe position detection apparatus of the tablet terminal 2. The positiondetection apparatus of the tablet terminal 2 acquires the writingpressure information and the pen ID transmitted as described above.

Also in this example, the position detection apparatus of the tabletterminal 2 has the function of detecting the tilt and height position ofthe electronic pen 1. The tilt of the electronic pen 1 refers to itstilt relative to a sensor surface (position pointing input surface) ofthe position detection apparatus. The height position of the electronicpen 1 refers to its height position relative to the sensor surface(position pointing input surface) of the position detection apparatus.The tilt and the height position of the electronic pen 1 are detected byknown techniques, which will not be discussed further hereunder.

The tablet terminal 2 supplies an association processing device 4 withpen state information made up of the above-described informationregarding the detected position pointed by the electronic pen 1,information regarding the writing pressure on the electronic pen 1,information regarding the tilt of the electronic pen 1, and informationregarding the height position of the electronic pen 1. In this example,the pen state information regarding the state of the electronic penincludes the information regarding the detected position pointed by theelectronic pen, its writing pressure, its tilt, and its height position.

Also in this example, multiple electrodes 6 connected with anelectroencephalograph 5 are worn on the head of the electronic pen user3 so as to discriminate his or her emotional state. Theelectroencephalograph 5 supplements brain wave data from the electrodes6 with time information from an internal clock (time in years, months,days, hours, minutes, and seconds), before supplying the brain wave datato the association processing device 4.

The association processing device 4 is constituted by a personalcomputer, for example. The association processing device 4 acquires fromthe tablet terminal 2 the information regarding the position pointed bythe electronic pen, the pen ID, and the pen state information whileobtaining the brain wave data from the electroencephalograph 5 at thesame point in time, associates the acquired items of information withone another, and adds a timestamp (time information at that point intime in years, months, days, hours, minutes, and seconds) to themutually associated information. The association processing device 4transmits the mutually associated information combined with thetimestamp to an emotion server apparatus 8 via a communication network7.

The communication network 7 may be configured with the Internet andpublic networks including mobile telephone networks. Alternatively, thecommunication network 7 may be a wireless local area network (LAN) thatuses Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) (registered trademark). As anotheralternative, the communication network 7 may be a wired LAN connectingthe emotion server apparatus 8 with the association processing device 4by wire.

The emotion server apparatus 8 receives information from the associationprocessing device 4, and acquires from the received information the penID of the electronic pen 1, the brain wave data, and the pen stateinformation regarding the electronic pen 1 in a manner separate from oneanother. Of the received information, the brain wave data from theelectroencephalograph 5 is used to discriminate (verify) the emotionalstate of the user of the electronic pen 1 at the current point in time.In this example, a “relaxed state,” a “concentrated state,” an“irritated state,” a “distracted state,” or an “angry state” isdiscriminated (verified) as the emotional state. Well-known methods ofdiscriminating these emotional states from brain wave data involve, forexample, finding the ratio of frequency components (frequencydistribution) of α waves, β waves and θ waves constituting the brainwaves for discrimination in accordance with such findings.

The emotion server apparatus 8, as will be discussed later, calculatesrange information regarding a range of values that may be taken by thepen state information in each of the emotional states discriminated withregard to the user of the electronic pen 1 on the basis of theinformation received from the tablet terminal 2.

The emotion server apparatus 8 then stores each discriminated emotionalstate, the range information regarding the range of values that may betaken by the pen state information in that emotional state, and the penID of the electronic pen in a manner associating them with one anotherin an internal emotion estimation-oriented database.

Typical electric circuit configurations of the electronic pen 1 and theposition detection apparatus of the tablet terminal 2

FIG. 2 depicts typical circuit configurations of an equivalent circuitof the electronic pen 1 and a position detection apparatus 20 of thetablet terminal 2 in a first example, the position detection apparatus20 performs position detection and writing pressure detection inconjunction with the electronic pen 1 using electromagnetic inductioncoupling technology.

The position detection apparatus 20 of the tablet terminal 2 in theexample of FIG. 2 includes a sensor 21, a coordinate data formationcircuit 22, and a controller 23. The sensor 21 is formed with an X-axisdirection loop coil group 211 and a Y-axis direction loop coil group 212stacked one on top of the other, as well as a selection circuit 213 forsuccessively selecting each of the loop coils making up the two loopcoil groups 211 and 212.

The electronic pen 1 has a signal control circuit constituted by an IC100. The electronic pen 1 is also configured in such a manner that adrive voltage for driving the IC 100 is acquired from an excitationsignal transmitted from an exciting coil 214 included in the sensor 21of the position detection apparatus 20 in the tablet terminal 2. Withthe example in FIG. 2 , it is explained here that the X-axis directionloop coil group 211 and Y-axis direction loop coil group 212 are usedsolely to receive an electromagnetic coupling signal from the electronicpen 1. However, this does not exclude driving the signal control circuitin the electronic pen 1 by use of the electromagnetic coupling with thepen 1 in place of the exciting coil 214. Also, transmission of signalssuch as predetermined control data to the signal control circuit in theelectronic pen 1 is not excluded.

In the sensor 21 of the position detection apparatus 20 in the tabletterminal 2 in the example in FIG. 2 , the exciting coil 214 is arrangedto surround the X-axis direction loop coil group 211 and Y-axisdirection loop coil group 212. Although FIG. 2 depicts the exciting coil214 having 2 turns, the number of turns is larger in practice, amountingto 8 to 10 turns, for example. As illustrated in FIG. 2 , the excitingcoil 214 is connected with a drive circuit 222 that in turn is connectedwith an oscillation circuit 221 oscillating at a frequency of fo.

The drive circuit 222 is controlled by a processing control circuit 220formed by a microcomputer. The processing control circuit 220 controlsthe drive circuit 222 to adjust the supply of an oscillation signal atthe frequency fo from the oscillation circuit 221 to the exciting coil214, thereby controlling the signal transmission from the exciting coil214 to the electronic pen 1.

The selection circuit 213 selects one loop coil under selection controlof the processing control circuit 220. An induced voltage developed onthe loop coil selected by the selection circuit 213 is amplified by areceiving amplifier 223. The amplified voltage is supplied to aband-pass filter 214 where only the component having the frequency fo isextracted. The band-pass filter 214 supplies the extracted component toa detection circuit 225.

The detection circuit 225 detects the component at the frequency fo, andsupplies a sample-hold circuit 226 with a direct-current signalcorresponding to the detected component having the frequency fo. Thesample-hold circuit 226 holds a voltage value at a predetermined timingof the output signal from the detection circuit 225. Specifically, thesample-hold circuit 226 holds the voltage value at the predeterminedtiming during a reception period, before outputting the voltage value toan AD conversion circuit 227. The AD conversion circuit 227 converts theanalog output from the sample-hold circuit 226 into a digital signal,and outputs the digital signal to the processing control circuit 220.The processing control circuit 220 supplies the above-mentioned signalobtained at the predetermined timing to the sample-hold circuit 226.

The processing control circuit 220 discriminates whether the digitalsignal from the AD conversion circuit 227 exceeds a predeterminedthreshold value, thereby determining whether the loop coil selected bythe selection circuit 213 is the loop coil at the position pointed bythe electronic pen 1. On the basis of the discrimination, the processingcontrol circuit 220 detects the position pointed by the electronic pen1.

Apart from detecting the position pointed by the electronic pen 1, theprocessing control circuit 220 also detects the connection anddisconnection of signals from the electronic pen 1 in the form of adigital signal of multiple bits so as to detect the writing pressure aswell as the pen ID, as will be discussed later. The processing controlcircuit 220 supplies the controller 23 with information regarding theposition pointed by the electronic pen, information regarding thedetected writing pressure, and the detected pen ID in such a manner thatthese items of information are associated with one another.

The controller 23 stores into a buffer, not depicted, the receivedinformation regarding the position pointed by the electronic pen, thereceived information regarding the writing pressure, and the receivedpen ID. The controller 23, furnished with a clock 231 having a calendarfunction, also stores into the buffer time information in years, months,days, hours, minutes, and seconds regarding the point in time at whichthe pointed position information, writing pressure information, and penID were received in a mutually associated manner.

The controller 23 further transmits the pointed position information,the writing pressure information, the pen ID, and the time informationstored in the buffer to the association processing device 4 via awireless communication circuit 232.

The circuit configuration of the electron pen 1 is enclosed with brokenlines as illustrated in FIG. 2 . That is, a resonance circuit 103 isconfigured with a capacitor 102 connected in parallel with a coil 101acting as an inductance element. The resonance circuit 103 is connectedin parallel with a switch circuit 104. The switch circuit 104 isconfigured to be turned on and off under control of the IC 100. When theswitch circuit 104 is turned off, the resonance circuit 103 resonateswith the signal from the sensor 21. When the switch circuit 104 isturned on, the capacitor 102 connected in parallel with the coil 101 isshort-circuited so that the resonance circuit 103 stops resonating withthe signal from the sensor 21.

The IC 100 is configured to operate on a power supply voltage Vccobtained by having an AC signal rectified by a rectifier circuit (powersupply circuit) 107 made of a diode 105 and a capacitor 106, the ACsignal being received through electromagnetic induction with theresonance circuit 103 from the sensor 21 of the position detectionapparatus 20 in the tablet terminal 2. The IC 100, connected with theresonance circuit 103 via a capacitor 108, monitors the operating stateof the resonance circuit 103. By monitoring the operating state of theresonance circuit 103, the IC 100 detects either the state ofelectromagnetic coupling with the exciting coil 214 of the sensor 21 orsignals such as control data sent from the sensor 21 of the positiondetection apparatus 20 using the two loop coil groups 211 and 212, notexplained here, so as to perform desired operation controls.

The electronic pen 1 of this embodiment includes a writing pressuredetection means formed by pressure sensitive elements that detect thewriting pressure applied to the stylus as the capacitance of a variablecapacitor Cv, for example. As depicted in FIG. 2 , the IC 100 connectedwith the variable capacitor Cv is configured to detect the capacitancethereof reflecting the writing pressure. The IC 100 thus detects thewriting pressure to the electronic pen 1 from the capacitance value ofthe variable capacitor Cv. The IC 100 converts the detected writingpressure to a digital signal in multiple bits, and controls the switchcircuit 104 in accordance with the digital signal corresponding to thewriting pressure. In so doing, the IC 100 transmits the informationregarding the writing pressure to the position detection apparatus 20 ofthe tablet terminal 2 in the form of information added to the positiondetection signal.

The IC 100 is also connected with an ID memory 110 that stores the penID serving as identification information identifying the electronic pen1. Using a digital signal stored in the ID memory 110, the IC 100controls the switch circuit 104 to transmit the pen ID to the positiondetection apparatus 20 of the tablet terminal 2 also in the form ofinformation added to the position detection signal together with thewriting pressure information.

Described below are the operations performed by the electronic pen 1 andby the position detection apparatus 20 of the tablet terminal 2, bothconfigured as explained above, in order to detect the position, thewriting pressure information, and the pen ID of the electronic pen 1.

First, the processing control circuit 220 drives the drive circuit 222to transmit a signal from the exciting coil 214 to the electronic pen 1for a predetermined time. The processing control circuit 220 then drivesthe drive circuit 222 to output a burst-type signal from the excitingcoil 214. Thereafter, the processing control circuit 220 performs theprocess of causing the selection circuit 213 to successively select eachof all loop coils making up the X-axis direction loop coil group 211.The electronic pen 1 causes the resonance circuit 103 to receive theburst-type signal and feeds the received signal back to the sensor 21 ofthe position detection apparatus 20 in the tablet terminal 2. Bydetecting the feedback burst-type signal as the position detectionsignal, the processing control circuit 220 obtains the X-coordinatevalue of the position pointed by the electronic pen 1.

Next, the processing control circuit 220 drives the drive circuit 222 totransmit a signal from the exciting coil 214 to the electronic pen 1 fora predetermined time. The processing control circuit 220 then drives thedrive circuit 222 to output a burst-type signal from the exciting coil214. Thereafter, the processing control circuit 220 performs the processof causing the selection circuit 213 to successively select each of allloop coils making up the Y-axis direction loop coil group 212. Theelectronic pen 1 causes the resonance circuit 103 to receive theburst-type signal and feeds the received signal back to the sensor 21 ofthe position detection apparatus 20 in the tablet terminal 2. Bydetecting the feedback burst-type signal as the position detectionsignal, the processing control circuit 220 obtains the Y-coordinatevalue of the position pointed by the electronic pen 1.

When the position pointed by the electronic pen 1 is detected asdescribed above, the processing control circuit 220 causes a signal tobe transmitted from the exciting coil 214 for a predetermined time inorder to detect the writing pressure information and pen ID as the addedinformation from the electronic pen 1. Thereafter, the processingcontrol circuit 220 continuously performs signal transmission andreception at the same timing as upon coordinate detection as many timesas the number of bits constituting the digital signal carrying the addedinformation. At this point, the selection circuit 213 selects the loopcoil (either an X-axis or a Y-axis direction loop coil) closest to theelectronic pen 1 in accordance with the detected coordinate values forsignal reception.

Meanwhile, the IC 100 of the electronic pen 1 puts the switch circuit104 under on-off control in synchronism with the signal transmission andreception to and from the position detection apparatus 20 of the tabletterminal 2 using the added information in the form of the digital signalformed by the pen ID and the writing pressure information obtained asrepresentative of the capacitance of the variable capacitor Cv making upthe writing pressure detection means. When the switch circuit 104 isturned off, the resonance circuit 103 returns to the position detectionapparatus 20 the signal transmitted therefrom. The loop coil of theposition detection apparatus 20 receives the returned signal. On theother hand, when the switch circuit 104 is turned on, the resonancecircuit 103 is inhibited from oscillating. The resonance circuit 103thus does not return the signal to the position detection apparatus 20,so that the loop coil of the position detection apparatus 20 does notreceive the signal.

The processing control circuit 220 of the coordinate data formationcircuit 22 in the position detection apparatus circuit 20 discriminatesthe presence or absence of the received signal as many times as thenumber of bits making up the digital signal constituting the addedinformation. In so doing, the processing control circuit 220 receivesthe digital signal in multiple bits reflecting the writing pressureinformation and the pen ID, thereby detecting the writing pressureinformation and the pen ID from the electronic pen 1. The electronic pen1 thus transmits the writing pressure information and the pen ID as anASK modulated signal to the position detection apparatus 20 of thetablet terminal 2.

The processing control circuit 220 of the position detection apparatus20 detects the information regarding the position pointed by theelectronic pen 1 as well as the writing pressure information and the penID from the electronic pen 1. The processing control circuit 220 thensupplies the controller 23 with the detected position pointed by theelectronic pen 1, the detected writing pressure information, and thedetected pen ID. The controller 23 adds time information to the positionpointed by the electronic pen 1, to the writing pressure information,and to the pen ID following their receipt from the processing controlcircuit 220 and causes the wireless communication circuit 232 totransmit the combined information to the association processing device4.

The association processing device 4 associates the position pointed bythe electronic pen 1, the writing pressure information, and the pen IDfollowing their receipt from the tablet terminal 2 with the brain wavedata from the electroencephalograph 5 on the basis of the timeinformation added to such data and information. The associationprocessing device 4 then adds corresponding time information to themutually associated information and transmits the combined informationto the emotion server apparatus 8 via the communication network 7.

<Typical Configuration of the Emotion Server Apparatus 8>

FIG. 3 depicts a typical configuration of the emotion server apparatus 8making up this embodiment. That is, the emotion server apparatus 8 isconfigured with a control circuit 81 formed by a computer, the controlcircuit 81 being connected with a wireless communication circuit 82, aninformation acquisition circuit 83, an emotional state discriminationcircuit 84, a pen state information range calculation circuit 85, anassociated storage processing circuit 86, and an emotionestimation-oriented database 87 via a system bus 80.

The control circuit 81 provides overall control of the emotion serverapparatus 8. The wireless communication circuit 82, which communicateswirelessly via the communication network 7, receives information fromthe association processing device 4 in this example. From theinformation received through the wireless communication circuit 82, theinformation acquisition circuit 83 extracts and acquires informationassociating the position pointed by the electronic pen 1, the writingpressure information, and the pen ID from the tablet terminal 2 with thebrain wave data from the electroencephalograph 5, together with thetimestamp.

With the information thus acquired, the information acquisition circuit83 supplies the brain wave data from the electroencephalograph 5 and thepen ID to the emotional state discrimination circuit 84. The informationacquisition circuit 83 further supplies the position pointed by theelectronic pen, the writing pressure information, and the pen ID fromthe tablet terminal 2 to the pen state information range calculationcircuit 85.

Given the brain wave data over a predetermined time, the emotional statediscrimination circuit 84 discriminates the user's emotional state atthat time. The pen state information range calculation circuit 85calculates a range of electronic pen coordinate position blur, a rangeof writing pressures, a range of tilts, and a range of height positionsat the time of the discriminated emotional state. The emotional statediscrimination circuit 84 supplies the discriminated emotional state tothe associated storage processing circuit 86 together with the pen ID.The pen state information range calculation circuit 85 supplies therange of coordinate position bur of the electronic pen 1, the range ofwriting pressures, the range of tilts, and the range of height positionsall calculated at the time of the discriminated emotional state to theassociated storage processing circuit 86 together with the pen ID.

The associated storage processing circuit 86 associates the receivedinformation regarding the emotional state and the respective ranges ofpen state information with the pen ID, before storing the mutuallyassociated information into the emotion estimation-oriented database 87.

As described above, the “relaxed state,” “concentrated state,”“irritated state,” “distracted state,” or “angry state” is discriminatedas the emotional state. Discrimination of the emotional state isaccomplished by analyzing biological information, or the brain wave datain this example. With this embodiment, the user 3 of the electronic pen1 targeted for emotional state discrimination is brought into each ofthe “relaxed state,” “concentrated state,” “irritated state,”“distracted state,” and “angry state” continuously for at least apredetermined time period under contextual stimulus, for example, theemotional state being verified through measurement by theelectroencephalograph 5.

For example, the user 3 of the electronic pen 1 is given the conceptualstimulus such as the type of music that soothes the user 3 for apredetermined time in order to reach the “relaxed state.” The“concentrated state” is reached by the user 3 invited to write or drawfavorite calligraphy or pictures in a focused manner for a predeterminedtime. The “irritated state” is reached by the user 3 receiving thecontextual stimulus such as being deliberately pressed to perform inputoperations with the electronic pen 1. In such a manner, the user is putinto each of the “relaxed state,” “concentrated state,” “irritatedstate,” “distracted state,” and “angry state.” The brain wave data aboutthe user in each of these emotional states is measured by theelectroencephalograph 5, the measurements being used to verify that theuser is in each emotional state.

In such cases, α, β, and θ waves, for example, are measured and recordedas the brain wave data. The measurements of these waves are thenchecked, for example, for distribution shapes to discriminate or verifywhich of the above emotional states the user is in. That is, there existcorrelations between the distribution shapes of α, β, and θ brain waveson the one hand and the emotional states on the other hand. A databaseof these correlations, not illustrated, is included in the emotionalstate discrimination circuit 84 of the emotion server apparatus 8. Theemotional state discrimination circuit 84 of the emotion serverapparatus 8 references the correlation database by use of thedistribution shape of α, β, and θ waves in the brain wave measurementsso as to estimate, discriminate, or verify the emotional state of theuser 3.

What follows is an example of the method by which each of the “relaxedstate,” “concentrated state,” “irritated state,” “distracted state,” and“angry state” is artificially brought about; the user is verified anddiscriminated to be in each of these emotional states based on brainwave data; the pen state in each of these emotional states is measured;and the measurements are stored as data.

In this example, as depicted in Subfigure (A) in FIG. 4 , theelectroencephalograph 5 generates predetermined times T1, T2, T3, T4,and T5 in which the user of the electronic pen 1 is in the “relaxedstate,” “concentrated state,” “irritated state,” “distracted state,” and“angry state” respectively, and generates brain wave data D1, D2, D3,D4, and D5 associated with the respective emotional states in therespective predetermined times T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5. The predeterminedtimes T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5 are each arranged to be long enough for theemotion server apparatus 8 to discriminate (verify) each of the “relaxedstate,” “concentrated state,” “irritated state,” “distracted state,” and“angry state” as the emotional state.

Then as illustrated in Subfigures (B) and (C) in FIG. 4 , in thepredetermined times T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5, the tablet terminal 2detects information Crd1, Crd2, Crd3, Crd4, and Crd5 regarding theposition pointed by the electronic pen 1 and writing pressureinformation Pr1, Pr2, Pr3, Pr4, and Pr5, respectively, when theelectronic pen user is in the “relaxed state,” “concentrated state,”“irritated state,” “distracted state,” and “angry state” respectively.As depicted in Subfigure (D) in FIG. 4 , the tablet terminal 2 acquiresthe same pen ID (=ID1) for all predetermined times T1, T2, T3, T4, andT5. In each of the predetermined times T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5, thetablet terminal 2 detects not only the information regarding theposition pointed by the electronic pen 1 but also the pen stateinformation such as the tilt and height position of the electronic pen1. As discussed above, the information regarding the position pointed bythe electronic pen 1 and the pen state information such as writingpressure information, tilt and height position are transmitted from thetablet terminal 2 together with the associated pen ID to the emotionserver apparatus 8 via the association processing device 4.

Thus the emotional state discrimination circuit 84, given the brain wavedata in the predetermined times T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5, verifies thatthe user 3 is in the “relaxed state,” “concentrated state,” “irritatedstate,” “distracted state,” and “angry state,” respectively.

The pen state information range calculation circuit 85 then calculates arange in which is present each of multiple items of pen stateinformation associated with the “relaxed state,” “concentrated state,”“irritated state,” “distracted state,” and “angry state” as the user'semotional states over the predetermined times T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5,respectively. That is, each of the pen states of the electronic pen 1held by the user in each of the emotional states constitutes acorresponding presence range that is to be calculated. For example, thewriting pressure applied to the electronic pen 1 in the “relaxed state”takes on the presence range of values of which the mean value isrelatively low, with deviations from the mean value being relativelysmall. Also, the writing pressure applied to the electronic pen 1 in the“irritated state” takes on the presence range of values of which themean value is relatively high, with deviations from the mean value beingrelatively high.

In this example, the “range of tilts,” “range of height positions,” and“range of pen tip position blur in a hovering state” are calculated fromthe information regarding the position (see Subfigure (B) in FIG. 4 )pointed by the electronic pen 1 (including its height position). Also,the “range of writing pressures (at the time of writing)” is calculatedfrom the writing pressure information (see Subfigure (C) in FIG. 4 )regarding the electronic pen 1. Incidentally, the range informationregarding a range of pen state information is calculated bydiscriminating the range in which most, or 90 percent, for example, ofthe pen state information values fall or are present over at least apredetermined time needed to discriminate the emotional state. Here, thepercentage of values that fall in the range of pen state information atthe time of calculating the range information regarding the pen stateinformation is related to the accuracy in estimating the emotional statefrom the pen state information. It is obvious that the higher thepercentage, the higher the accuracy of the estimated emotional state.The range information made up of the above-mentioned mean value anddeviations may be regarded as the range information regarding the rangeof pen state information (i.e., presence range information).

With this embodiment, the range information regarding the range of penstate information associated with each emotional state is detected inreal time. Alternatively, the pen state information acquired in theabove-mentioned predetermined times T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5 may bestored, and the stored pen state information may be subsequently used tocalculate the respective range information.

With this embodiment, the pen state information range calculationcircuit 85 further stores a “characteristic pattern at the time ofwriting characters” in each emotional state of the user 3 of theelectronic pen 1. Thus in this example, the user 3 as the target fromwhich to acquire brain wave data is requested to write a predeterminedcharacter inside a predetermined square region in each emotional state.

That is, as depicted in FIG. 5 , the user 3 is presented with acharacter input square frame FL on the display screen of the tabletterminal 2. The user 3 is prompted to write a character in thatcharacter input square frame FL. As illustrated in FIG. 5 , the user 3in each emotional state writes a character requested for input, e.g., aJapanese Hiragana character “

” inside the input square frame FL using the electronic pen 1.

As depicted in FIG. 5 , the user 3 in the relaxed or concentrated statewrites the requested character neatly inside the input square frame FL.That is, the center position of the character is close to the centerposition of the input square frame FL, with the size of the characternot exceeding the input square frame FL.

On the other hand, in the irritated, distracted, or angry state, thecharacter center position deviates accordingly from the center positionof the input square frame FL, and the size of the character exceedspartly or largely the input square frame FL in accordance with theemotional state. The pen state information range calculation circuit 85may then calculate, in accordance with each emotional state, the rangeof deviations from the character center position and the range ofcharacter size variations as the characteristic pattern at the time ofwriting as typical of the pen state information.

Alternatively, characteristic patterns of not only one character butalso consecutively written multiple characters may be calculated as the“characteristic pattern at the time of writing.” In this case, the rangeof deviations of multiple characters from their character centerposition and the range of size variations of multiple characters, forexample, may be calculated as the characteristic pattern.

The pen state information range calculation circuit 85 supplies theassociated storage processing circuit 86 with the range informationregarding the range of pen state information calculated as describedabove for each of the predetermined times T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5 inwhich the respective emotional states were detected.

The associated storage processing circuit 86 associates the informationregarding the emotional states discriminated by the emotional statediscrimination circuit 84 in the predetermined times T1, T2, T3, T4 andT5, with the range information regarding the range of each of multipleitems of pen state information from the pen state information rangecalculation circuit 85 as well as with the pen ID. The associatedstorage processing circuit 86 stores the mutually associated informationinto the emotion estimation-oriented database 87.

FIG. 6 depicts an example of stored content in the emotionestimation-oriented database 87 at this point. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the “relaxed,” “concentrated,” “irritated,” “distracted,” and “angry”emotional states are stored in association with pen IDs identifyingelectronic pen users. Also, the information regarding the range that maybe taken by the pen state information in each of the emotional states isstored in association with the respective emotional states.

In the example of FIG. 6 , a “coordinate pointing blur,” a “writingpressure,” a “tilt,” a “height position,” and a “hovering position blur”at the time of input by writing are stored as the pen state information.Stored as the coordinate pointing blur are the range of deviations fromthe character center position and the range of character size variationsexplained above with reference to FIG. 5 . FIG. 6 schematically depictsthe deviation range and the size variation range. The square framesindicated in FIG. 5 each correspond to the above-described squire frameFL in FIG. 5 .

In the case of “coordinate pointing blur,” the speed or acceleration ofthe blur changes mildly or violently in keeping with the emotionalstate. Information regarding these changes may also be stored into theemotion estimation-oriented database 87.

The range of writing pressures (e.g., Pra1 to Prb1) is stored as the“writing pressure” because the user is expected to apply differentwriting pressures to the electronic pen 1 when making input onto thesensor with the pen 1. For example, the writing pressure in theconcentrated state is larger than in the relaxed state, and the range ofwriting pressures in the concentrated state is smaller than in therelaxed state. In the irritated state, writing pressures are diverse, sothat the range of writing pressures is extensive. In the angry state,the writing pressure tends to be higher. Not only the range of writingpressures but also their mean value may be stored at the same time. Thechange in writing pressure over time may also be stored into the emotionestimation-oriented database 87. For example, the change in writingpressure over time is smaller in the “relaxed state” and “concentratedstate” and is larger in the “irritated state” and “distracted state.”

The “tilt” of the electronic pen 1 relative to the sensor surface (inputsurface) varies with the user's emotional state. The range of such tiltswith respect to each emotional state is thus stored into the emotionestimation-oriented database 87. Also in this case, the change in tiltover time may be stored into the emotion estimation-oriented database 87at the same time. For example, the change in tilt over time is small inthe “relaxed state” or “concentrated state” and is pronounced in the“irritated state” or “distracted state.” Alternatively, the tilts may bestored into the emotion estimation-oriented database 87 in two separatecases: where the writing pressure is zero and the electronic pen is inthe hovering state, and where the writing pressure is higher than 0 withthe electronic pen in contact with the sensor surface.

The “height position” is taken by the electronic pen 1 held by the user3 in the hovering state waiting for pointing input (i.e., input bywriting) in each of the user's emotional states in a directionperpendicular to the sensor surface. Information regarding the range ofsuch height positions is stored into the emotion estimation-orienteddatabase 87.

The “hovering position blur” is incurred by the electronic pen 1 held bythe user 3 in a wait state prior to pointing input (input by writing) aschanges in the coordinate position on the sensor surface. That is, the“hovering position blur” is small when the user is in the “concentratedstate” and is pronounced when the user is in the “irritated state” or“distracted state,” for example. Also in this case, the changes inhovering position blur over time may be stored into the emotionestimation-oriented database 87 at the same time.

As described above, this embodiment causes the emotionestimation-oriented database 87 to store each item of range informationregarding the range of pen state information in association with eachemotional state of the user identified by the pen ID.

This embodiment also allows the emotion estimation-oriented database 87to store the range information regarding ranges of general pen stateinformation targeted for the general user in association with each ofthe “relaxed,” “concentrated,” “irritated,” “distracted,” and “angry”emotional states. This is intended to estimate the emotional state ofnot only the user identified by the pen ID stored in the emotionestimation-oriented database 87 but also all electronic pen users. Thepen state information range calculation circuit 85 calculates the rangeinformation regarding each of the ranges of general pen stateinformation by performing, for example, the process of averaging each ofthe ranges of pen state information in association with each of theemotional states of numerous users stored in conjunction with their penIDs stored in the emotion estimation-oriented database 87.

The emotion server apparatus 8 above may also be configured to let theinformation acquisition circuit 83, emotional state discriminationcircuit 84, pen state information range calculation circuit 85, andassociated storage processing circuit 86 be implemented by the controlcircuit 81 executing programs stored in an internal storage device tofunction as a software function processing module performing theseprocesses.

<Process of Building the Emotion Estimation-Oriented Database by theEmotion Server Apparatus 8>

FIG. 7 is a flowchart explaining a typical flow of processing performedby the emotion server apparatus 8 for building the emotionestimation-oriented database. The example in FIG. 7 is explained on theassumption that the control circuit 81 of the emotion server apparatus 8acting as the software function processing module implements theinformation acquisition circuit 83, emotional state discriminationcircuit 84, pen state information range calculation circuit 85, andassociated storage processing circuit 86. Incidentally, FIG. 7 depictsthe flow of typical processing for generating the information to bestored into the emotion estimation-oriented database regarding a singleuser 3. That means the processing in FIG. 7 may also be performed on adifferent user who may take the place of the current user.

In this example, the predetermined times T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5 areexecuted successively as the periods in which to discriminate the user'semotional states as illustrated in FIG. 4 .

First, the control circuit 81 receives information associating the brainwave data with the electronic pen state information (includinginformation about the position pointed by the electronic pen 1) via thecommunication network 7 (S101). From the acquired brain wave data, thecontrol circuit 81 discriminates the emotional state of the user 3associated with the pen ID (S102). S102 involves executing the processof discriminating the user's emotional state in one of the predeterminedtimes T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5 mentioned above.

The control circuit 81 then detects a range of values corresponding tothe emotional state discriminated at S102 with respect to each item ofelectronic pen state information (S103). The control circuit 81discriminates whether the range of values can be detected regarding eachitem of electronic pen state information (104). If it is discriminatedthat the range of values is not detected, the control circuit 81 furtherreceives information from the association processing device 4 via thecommunication network 7 (S105). Thereafter, the control circuit 81returns control to S103 and repeats the subsequent steps.

If it is discriminated at S104 that the range of values is detected foreach item of electronic pen state information, the control circuit 81stores into the emotion estimation-oriented database 87 the emotionalstate discriminated at S102 and the range of values of pen stationinformation calculated at S103, the emotional state and the range ofvalues of pen state information being associated with the acquired penID (S106).

The control circuit 81 then discriminates whether the predeterminedtimes T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5 have ended regarding all the emotionalstates to be estimated (S107). If it is discriminated at S107 that thepredetermined times have yet to be terminated, the control circuit 81 isgiven the brain wave data and the pen state information at the time ofthe user being in another emotional state in the next predeterminedtime. The control circuit 81 then returns control to S101 and repeatsthe subsequent steps.

If it is discriminated at S107 that the predetermined times T1, T2, T3,T4, and T5 have ended regarding all the emotional states to beestimated, the control circuit 81 generates or updates the rangeinformation regarding the ranges of general pen state information byperforming, for example, the process of averaging the range informationregarding each range of pen state information associated with each ofthe emotional states of numerous users stored in association with penIDs in the emotion estimation-oriented database 87. The control circuit81 stores into the emotion estimation-oriented database 87 the generatedor updated range information regarding the ranges of general pen stateinformation each in association with each of the “relaxed,”“concentrated,” “irritated,” “distracted,” and “angry” emotional states.The control circuit 81 then terminates the processing.

In the manner described above, the emotion estimation-oriented database87 of the emotion server apparatus 8 stores the information associatingthe emotional states of each user identified by the pen ID with therange information regarding the ranges of pen state information. At thesame time, the emotion estimation-oriented database 87 stores the rangeinformation regarding the ranges of general pen state informationassociated with the emotional states of general users not identified bypen IDs.

Thus when the user performs pointing input to the tablet terminal usingthe electronic pen, the pen state information regarding the electronicpen held by the current user may be used as reference information forsearching through the emotion estimation-oriented database 87 of theemotion server apparatus 8. The search makes it possible to estimate theemotional state associated with the pen state information.

In this case, if the electronic pen held by the user has the same pen IDas that registered in the emotion estimation-oriented database 87, theinformation stored in the emotion estimation-oriented database 87 inassociation with the pen ID may be retrieved. The retrieval permitsaccurate estimation of the emotional state of the current user inaccordance with the characteristics of electronic pen operationspeculiar to the user identified by the pen ID. Also in this embodiment,the emotion estimation-oriented database 87 stores the range informationregarding the ranges of general pen state information associated witheach emotional state. The storage provides the advantage of allowing thegeneral pen state information to be used to also estimate the emotionalstate of a user for whom the information associating the emotionalstates with the pen state information in accordance with the pen ID isnot stored in the emotion estimation-oriented database 87.

Second Example of the System for Building the EmotionEstimation-Oriented Database

In the above-described first example of the system for building thedatabase, the association processing device 4 is needed to associate thepen state information with the brain wave data as typical biologicalinformation for discriminating the emotional state. A second example ofthe system for building the database, to be discussed below, dispenseswith the association processing device 4.

FIG. 8 explains an outline of the second example of the system forbuilding the database. In this example, the user 3 may wear on the heada simple electroencephalograph 5A such as one disclosed in PatentDocument 1. The simple electroencephalograph 5A includes a wirelesscommunication circuit 5TA complying with a shortrange wirelesscommunication protocol such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) in orderto transmit wirelessly the brain wave data acquired from the user(called the simple brain wave data).

Also in this example, an electronic pen 1A includes a wirelesscommunication means complying with the Bluetooth (registered trademark)protocol, not depicted in FIG. 8 , in order to receive the simple brainwave data transmitted wirelessly from the simple electroencephalograph5A. The electronic pen 1A outputs the simple brain wave data receivedfrom the simple electroencephalograph 5A to the position detectionapparatus of a tablet terminal 2A as information added to the positiondetection signal.

That is, as illustrated in Subfigure (A) in FIG. 9 , the electronic pen1A outputs the position detection signal and the added informationrepeatedly to the position detection apparatus of the tablet terminal2A. For the electronic pen 1A of this example, the added information ismade up of writing pressure information, a pen ID, and simple brain wavedata as illustrated in Subfigure (B) in FIG. 9 . As in theabove-described first example, the electronic pen 1A outputs the addedsignal as a digital signal to the position detection apparatus of thetablet terminal 2A.

The tablet terminal 2A is configured the same as in the above-describedfirst example. It is to be noted, however, that the tablet terminal 2Aof the second example acquires not only the writing pressure and the penID but also the simple brain wave data as the added information and thatthe tablet terminal 2A has the function of transmitting the pen stateinformation and the simple brain wave data associated with the pen ID tothe emotion server apparatus 8 via the communication network 7, as willbe discussed later.

[Typical Electronic Circuit Configurations of the Electronic Pen 1A andthe Position Detection Apparatus 20A of the Tablet Terminal 2A]

FIG. 10 depicts an equivalent circuit of the electronic pen 1A and atypical circuit configuration of position detection apparatus 20A of thetablet terminal 2A in the second example. In FIG. 10 , the samecomponents as those of the electronic pen 1 and of the positiondetection apparatus 20 of the tablet terminal 2 in the first example inFIG. 2 are designated by the same reference numerals.

In the second example, as depicted in FIG. 10 , the electronic pen 1Aincludes a wireless communication circuit 109 complying with theBluetooth (registered trademark) protocol. The wireless communicationcircuit 109 is supplied with a power supply voltage Vcc from a rectifiercircuit 107. The wireless communication circuit 109 supplies thereceived simple brain wave data to an IC 100A.

The IC 100A of the electronic pen 1A in this example generates addedinformation (digital signal) formed by the simple brain wave datareceived by the wireless communication circuit 109, in addition to thewriting pressure information detected from the capacitance of thevariable capacitor Cv and the pen ID stored in an ID memory 110. As inthe electronic pen 1 of the first example, the digital signal of theadded information is used to place a switch circuit 104 under on-offcontrol. The added information is output in the form of an ASK-modulatedsignal to the sensor 21 of a position 20A in the tablet terminal 2A. Theother aspects of the configuration and the operation of the electronicpen 1A are the same as with the electronic pen 1 of the first example.

Just like the position detection apparatus 20 of the tablet terminal 2Ain the first example, the position detection apparatus 20A of the tabletterminal 2A detects the position pointed by the electronic pen 1A aswell as the height position and tilt of the electronic pen 1A on thebasis of the position detection signal from the electronic pen 1A. Usingthe added information from the electronic pen 1A, the position detectionapparatus 20A of the tablet terminal 2A detects the writing pressureinformation, the pen ID, and the simple brain wave data.

A processing control circuit 220A in the position detection apparatus20A of the tablet terminal 2A then generates the pen state informationformed by the information regarding the position pointed by theelectronic pen 1A, writing pressure information, tilt information, andheight position information. The processing control circuit 220Aassociates the pen state information with both the simple brain wavedata and the pen ID before transmitting the mutually associatedinformation to the controller 23. The controller 23 adds timeinformation from the clock 231 as timestamp information to theinformation associating the pen state information with the simple brainwave data and pen ID following their receipt from the processing controlcircuit 220A. The controller 23 transmits the timestamp-supplementedinformation to the emotion server apparatus 8 through the wirelesscommunication circuit 232 over the communication network 7.

Incidentally, the operations performed by the position detectionapparatus 20A of the tablet terminal 2A to detect the position pointedby the electronic pen 1A, to detect the added information, and to detectthe pen state information made up of the tilt and height position areexactly the same as those operations carried out by the positiondetection apparatus 20 of the tablet terminal 2 in the first embodiment.

In the second example, the emotion server apparatus 8 processes theinformation received from the tablet terminal 2A in the same manner asthe information received from the association processing device 4 of thefirst example. In so doing, the emotion server apparatus 8 builds theemotion estimation-oriented database 87 such as that discussed above.

As described above, the second example dispenses with the associationprocessing device 4. This provides the benefit of simplifying theconfiguration of the database building system.

Alternatively, the simple brain wave data sent wirelessly from thesimple electroencephalograph 5A may be received not by the electronicpen 1A but by the tablet terminal 2A.

Third Example of the System for Building the Database

A third example of the system for building the database, to be explainedhereunder, also dispenses with the association processing device 4 ofthe first example, as with the second example. In the third example, theemotional state of the electronic pen user is estimated not by use ofbrain wave data but by recourse to the technique of Patent Document 2 tomeasure biological information other than the user's brain waves, suchas pulse rate and blood flow.

FIG. 11 explains an outline of the third example of the system forbuilding the database. In the third example, the user 3 holds the sameelectronic pen 1 as that in the first example. In the third example, theuser 3 wears, typically on the arm 3B, a biological informationdetection apparatus 5B for detecting pulse rate and blood flow, theapparatus being disclosed in Patent Document 2, for example. Thebiological information detection apparatus 5B includes a wirelesscommunication circuit 5TB complying with a short-range wirelesscommunication protocol such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) in orderto transmit wirelessly the detected data of biological information suchas pulse rate and blood flow of the user 3.

A tablet terminal 2B of the third example includes a wirelesscommunication circuit 233 complying with the Bluetooth (registeredtrademark) protocol in order to receive the detected data of biologicalinformation transmitted wirelessly from the biological informationdetection apparatus 5B. The tablet terminal 2B then associates thedetected data of biological information received from the biologicalinformation detection apparatus 5B as well as the pen state informationacquired as discussed above on the basis of signals from the electronicpen 1 with the pen ID obtained from the electronic pen 1. The tabletterminal 2B transmits the mutually associated information to the emotionserver apparatus 8 via the communication network 7.

Typical electronic circuit configurations of the electronic pen 1 and ofthe position detection apparatus 20B in the tablet terminal 2B FIG. 12depicts an equivalent circuit of the electronic pen 1 and a typicalcircuit configuration of a position detection apparatus 20B of thetablet terminal 2B in the third example. In FIG. 12 , the samecomponents as those in the first example in FIG. 2 are designated by thesame reference numerals.

As depicted in FIG. 12 , the electronic pen 1 has substantially the samecircuit configuration and performs substantially the same operations asthe example in FIG. 2 . Those components of the tablet terminal 2B whichoperate in conjunction with the electronic pen 1 are also configured andact substantially the same as the example in FIG. 2 . The configurationof a controller 23B is different from that of the controller 23 in theexample of FIG. 2 .

That is, the controller 23B of the position detection apparatus 20B inthe tablet terminal 2B includes the wireless communication circuit 233that communicates with the wireless communication circuit 5TB includedin the biological information detection apparatus 5B. The tabletterminal 2B allows the controller 23 to associate the pen stateinformation coming from a processing control circuit 220B and related tothe pen ID with detected data of biological information received by thewireless communication circuit 233. The tablet terminal 2B furthercauses the controller 23 to add time information from the clock 231 tothe mutually associated information before transmitting the wholeinformation to the emotion server apparatus 8 through the wirelesscommunication circuit 232 over the communication network 7.

In the third example, the operations performed by the position detectionapparatus 20B of the tablet terminal 2B to detect the position pointedby the electronic pen 1, to detect the added information, and to detectthe pen state information made up of the tilt and height position areexactly the same as the operations carried out by the position detectionapparatus 20 of the tablet terminal 2 in the first embodiment.

The third example thus dispenses with the association processing device4. This provides the advantage of simplifying the configuration of thedatabase building system and, with the tablet terminal 3B including awireless communication circuit for communication with the biologicalinformation detection apparatus 5B, offers the benefit of simplifyingthe configuration of the electronic pen 1 as well.

With the above examples, it was explained that the biologicalinformation for discriminating a person's emotional states includesbrain wave data, simple brain wave data, pulse rate, and blood flow.However, this is not limitative of the present disclosure.Alternatively, blinking, line-of-sight movement, and micro-vibration maybe used singly or in combination with other biological information suchas was discussed above in determining the person's emotional states.

It was also explained that the brain wave data is sent raw from theassociation processing device 4 to the emotion server apparatus 8 in thefirst example, that the simple brain wave data is sent raw to the serverapparatus 8 through the tablet terminal 2A in the second example, thatthe biological information of pulse rate and blood flow is sent raw tothe server apparatus 8 through the tablet terminal 2A in the thirdexample, and that the raw data is used by the emotional statediscrimination circuit 84 of the emotion server apparatus 8 in analyzingthe user's emotional states. In this case, a large amount of data issent to the emotion server apparatus 8, which can lower the transmissionspeed.

This situation may be bypassed by the association processing device 4 orby the tablet terminal 2A or 2B taking over the functional processing ofthe emotional state discrimination circuit 84 involving the analysis ofbrain wave data for emotional state discrimination. As anotheralternative, the processing may be carried out internally by the simpleelectroencephalograph 5A or by the biological information detectionapparatus 5B. In this case, the association processing device 4, tabletterminal 2A or 2B, simple electroencephalograph 5A, or biologicalinformation detection apparatus 5B may add emotional stateidentification information to each of the discriminated emotionalstates. For example, the emotional state identification information S1may be added to the “relaxed state,” S2 to the “concentrated state,” S3to the “irritated state,” S4 to the “distracted state,” and S5 to the“angry state.” Then the emotional state identification information maybe associated with the pen state information when transmitted to theemotion server apparatus 8.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4 , in a relaxed time period inwhich the emotional state is the “relaxed state,” the pointed positioninformation Crd1, writing pressure information Pr1, ID1 as the pen ID,tilt information SL1 (not depicted), and height information H1 (notdepicted) making up the pen state information are associated with theemotional state identification information S1 about the “relaxed”emotional state before being transmitted altogether in a bundle to theserver apparatus 8. This shortens the transmission time. The emotionserver apparatus 8 may associate the emotional state identificationinformation S1, S2, S3, S4 or S5 identifying the respective emotionalstates with the pen state information for storage into the emotionestimation-oriented database 87.

Embodiment of the Emotion Estimation System

FIG. 13 explains an outline of a system for estimating the emotionalstate of the electronic pen user through the use of the emotionestimation-oriented database 87 built by the database building systemdescribed above.

In the emotion estimation system of this example, users 3 ₁, . . . , 3_(n) (n is an integer of at least 1) possess their respective electronicpens 1 ₁, . . . , 1 _(n). Using their own electronic pens, the usersperform character input and other types of input through tabletterminals 2D₁, . . . , 2D_(n).

In this example, the electronic pens 1 ₁, . . . , 1 _(n) each havesubstantially the same configuration as that of the above-describedelectronic pen 1. The electronic pens 1 ₁, . . . , 1 _(n) are furtherconfigured to transmit the pen ID and the writing pressure informationas information added to the position detection signal to each of thetablet terminals 2D₁, . . . , 2D_(n). In this example, each of theelectronic pens 1 ₁, . . . , 1 _(n) is paired with the corresponding oneof the tablet terminals 2D₁, . . . , 2D_(n) to constitute a coordinateinput processing apparatus.

As with the above-described tablet terminal 2, the tablet terminals 2D₁,. . . , 2D_(n) each include a position detection apparatus except thattheir controller is configured differently and that they have displaydevices 24 ₁, . . . , 24 _(n) each formed by a liquid crystal display(LCD). A display screen of each of the display devices 24 ₁, . . . , 24_(n) is arranged to overlay the sensor on the position detectionapparatus of each of the tablet terminals 2D₁, . . . , 2D_(n). On thedisplay screen, each of the users 3 ₁, . . . , 3 _(n) is allowed toperform pointing input using the corresponding one of the electronicpens 1 ₁, . . . , 1 _(n). That is, in this example, each of the tabletterminals 2D₁, . . . , 2D_(n) has an electronic device configurationthat includes an information processing apparatus in addition to theposition detection apparatus.

Incidentally, each of the tablet terminals 2D₁, . . . , 2D_(n) may havetwo sections physically separated from or independent of one another andconnected with each other in wired or wireless fashion, one of the twosections including the position detection apparatus configured the sameas in the tablet terminal of the database building system, the othersection including the information processing apparatus.

As with personal computers, the controller of each of the tabletterminals 2D₁, . . . , 2D_(n) includes the function of a display controlthat generates images to be displayed on the display screen of each ofthe display devices 24 ₁, . . . , 24 _(n). That is, when each of theusers 3 ₁, . . . , 3 _(n) performs pointing input using thecorresponding one of the electronic pens 1 ₁, . . . , 1 _(n), thecontroller of the corresponding one of the tablet terminals 2D₁, . . . ,2D_(n) displays images reflecting the pointing input on the displayscreen of the corresponding one of the display devices 24 ₁, . . . , 24_(n).

In this example, upon receipt of the pointing input from each of theelectronic pens 1 ₁, . . . , 1 _(n), the controller of the correspondingone of the tablet terminals 2D₁, . . . , 2D_(n) generates an emotionalstate estimation request that includes the pen ID and the pen stateinformation acquired from the corresponding electronic pen. Thecontroller transmits the generated emotional state estimation request toan emotion server apparatus 8D via a communication network 7D. Theemotion server apparatus 8D constitutes an emotion estimation apparatus.

The emotion server apparatus 8D includes the emotion estimation-orienteddatabase 87 configured as described above and, as depicted in FIG. 15 tobe discussed later, also includes an emotional state estimation circuit89 and a providing information generation circuit 90. Upon receipt of anemotion state estimation request via the communication network 7D, theemotional state estimation circuit 89 searches through the emotionestimation-oriented database 87 to estimate a corresponding emotionalstate using the pen ID and the pen state information included in therequest as the reference information. The providing informationgeneration circuit 90 notifies the party that transmitted the emotionstate estimation request of the estimated emotional state as needed,generates providing information associated with the estimated emotionalstate, and returns the generated providing information to the requestingparty.

The communication network 7D may be configured with the Internet andpublic networks including mobile telephone networks, as with theabove-described communication network 7. Alternatively, thecommunication network 7D may be a wireless LAN that uses Wi-Fi(registered trademark). As another alternative, the communicationnetwork 7D may be a wired LAN connecting the emotion server apparatus 8with the association processing device 4 by wire.

[Typical Configuration of the Coordinate Input Processing Apparatus]

FIG. 14 depicts a typical electronic circuit of a coordinate inputprocessing apparatus of this embodiment. The apparatus corresponds toone of the pairs formed respectively between the electronic pens 1 ₁, .. . , 1 _(n) on the one hand and the tablet terminals 2D₁, . . . ,2D_(n) on the other hand. The electronic pens 1 ₁, . . . , 1 _(n) havethe same configuration, and the tablet terminals 2D₁, . . . , 2D_(n)also have the same configuration. For this reason, FIG. 14 illustratesthe electronic pen 1 ₁ and the tablet terminal 2D₁ as representative ofboth parts.

As depicted in FIG. 14 , the electronic pen 1 ₁ has the sameconfiguration as that of the above-described electronic pen 1. Aposition detection apparatus 20D₁ of the tablet terminal 2D₁ has thesame configuration as that of the above-described position detectionapparatus 20 of the tablet terminal 2 except for the display device 24 ₁and a controller 23D₁.

The controller 23D₁ includes an emotional state estimation requestgeneration circuit 234, a wireless communication circuit 235, and adisplay control circuit 236. When detecting that the user 3 ₁ hasperformed pointing input to the tablet terminal 2D₁ using the electronicpen 1 ₁, the emotional state estimation request generation circuit 234generates an emotional state estimation request that includes the pen IDand the pen state information received from the processing controlcircuit 220, and transmits the generated request to the emotional serverapparatus 8D through the wireless communication circuit 235 over thecommunication network 7D.

On the basis of information from the processing control circuit 220regarding the position pointed by the electronic pen 1 ₁, the displaycontrol circuit 236 performs display control processing on a displayimage to be displayed on the screen of the display circuit 24 ₁. Also,upon receipt of the provided information returned from the emotionserver apparatus 8D via the wireless communication circuit 235 inresponse to the emotional state estimation request, the display controlcircuit 236 performs display control processing on the display image tobe displayed on the screen of the display device 24 ₁ in accordance withthe provided information received.

[Typical Configuration of the Emotion Server Apparatus 8D]

FIG. 15 is a block diagram depicting a typical hardware configuration ofthe emotion server apparatus 8D. The emotion server apparatus 8D of theexample in FIG. 15 is an emotion estimation apparatus implemented byunmodified use, as an emotion estimation apparatus, of the emotionserver apparatus 8 that includes the emotion estimation-orienteddatabase 87 built by the above-described database building system. Thatis, a control circuit 81D is connected via system bus 80 with thewireless communication circuit 82, information acquisition circuit 83,emotional state discrimination circuit 84, pen state information rangecalculation circuit 85, associated storage processing circuit 86, andemotion estimation-oriented database 87, as well as with an emotionalstate estimation request reception circuit 88, with the emotional stateestimation circuit 89, and with the providing information generationcircuit 90.

That is, the portion that has the control circuit 81D connected via thesystem bus 80 with the wireless communication circuit 82, informationacquisition circuit 83, emotional state discrimination circuit 84, penstate information range calculation circuit 85, associated storageprocessing circuit 86, and emotion estimation-oriented database 87 makesup the component corresponding to the database building system asdiscussed above. The portion that has the control circuit 81D connectedvia the system bus 80 with the wireless communication circuit 82,emotion estimation-oriented database 87, emotional state estimationrequest reception circuit 88, emotional state estimation circuit 89, andproviding information generation circuit 90 makes up the component ofthe emotion estimation apparatus corresponding to the emotion estimationsystem.

The components corresponding to the database building system werediscussed above. Explained below are the components of the emotionestimation apparatus corresponding to the emotion estimation system.

In the emotion server apparatus 8D, the wireless communication circuit82 transfers the received emotional state estimation request to theemotional state estimation request reception circuit 88. The emotionalstate estimation request reception circuit 88 extracts the pen ID andthe pen state information from the received emotional state estimationrequest, and transfers what is extracted to the emotional stateestimation circuit 89. Using the received pen ID and pen stateinformation, the emotional state estimation circuit 89 searches throughthe emotion estimation-oriented database 87 to estimate a correspondingemotional state. The emotional state estimation circuit 89 transfers theestimated emotional state to the providing information generationcircuit 90.

The providing information generation circuit 90 generates providinginformation corresponding to the estimated emotional state received, andtransmits the generated information to the party having made theemotional state estimation request through the wireless communicationcircuit 82. The providing information may include information fornotification of the estimated emotional state or display informationassociated with the estimated emotional state.

Incidentally, the processes of the emotional state estimation requestreception circuit 88, emotional state estimation circuit 89, andproviding information generation circuit 90 may be carried out by thecontrol circuit 81D executing programs stored in an internal memory as asoftware function.

[Flow of the Emotional State Estimation Request Process Performed byEach of the Tablet Terminals 2D₁, . . . , 2D_(n)]

A typical flow of the emotional state estimation request processperformed by each of the tablet terminals 2D₁, . . . , 2D_(n) isexplained below with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 16 . It isassumed here that the controller 23D₁ of the tablet terminal 2D₁ makesthe emotional state estimation request.

That is, the controller 23D₁ monitors information from the processingcontrol circuit 220 to discriminate whether pointing input by theelectronic pen 1 ₁ is detected (S201). When discriminating that thepointing input by the electronic pen 1 ₁ is not detected at S201, thecontroller 23D₁ performs other processing (S202). At the end of theprocessing, the controller 23D₁ returns control to S201.

If it is discriminated at S201 that the pointing input by the electronicpen 1 ₁ is detected, the controller 23D₁ acquires from the processingcontrol circuit 220 the pen state information including informationregarding the position pointed by the electronic pen writing pressure,pen ID, tilt, height position, and hovering state position (S203).

The controller 23D₁ then generates an emotional state estimation requestthat includes the acquired pen state information and pen ID, andtransmits the generated request to the emotion server apparatus 8D(S204). Provided information is to be transmitted from the emotionserver apparatus 8D in response to the emotional state estimationrequest. The controller 23D₁ waits for receipt of the providedinformation (S205).

When receipt of the provided information from the emotion serverapparatus 8D is verified at S205, the controller 23D₁ performsprocessing based on the provided information received, i.e., carries outa display process in this example (S206).

[Flow of the Emotional State Estimation Process Performed by the EmotionServer Apparatus 8D]

A typical flow of the emotional state estimation process performed bythe emotion server apparatus 8D is explained below with reference to theflowchart of FIG. 17 . It is assumed here that the control circuit 81Dof the emotion server apparatus 8D is configured to provide asoftware-based processing function that executes the processes of theemotional state estimation request reception circuit 88, emotional stateestimation circuit 89, and providing information generation circuit 90.

First, the control circuit 81D discriminates whether an emotional stateestimation request is received (S301). If it is discriminated that therequest is not received, the control circuit 81D performs otherprocessing (S302). At the end of the processing, the control circuit 81Dreturns control S301.

If it is discriminated at S301 that the emotional state estimationrequest is received, the control circuit 81D searches through theemotion estimation-oriented database 87 using the pen ID and pen stateinformation included in the request as the reference information (S303).

Next, the control circuit 81D discriminates whether the emotionestimation-oriented database 87 stores information associated with thepen ID included in the emotional state estimation request (S304). If itis discriminated at S304 that the information associated with the pen IDincluded in the emotional state estimation request is stored in theemotion estimation-oriented database 87, the control circuit 81Dsearches the database for an emotional state with the pen stateinformation matching the information associated with the pen ID, andestimates the matching emotional state as the emotional state of theuser having made the emotional state estimation request (S305). Thecontrol circuit 81D then generates providing information associated withthe estimated emotional state, and transmits the generated providinginformation to the party that made the emotional state estimationrequest (S307).

Meanwhile, if it is discriminated at S304 that the informationassociated with the pen ID included in the emotional state estimationrequest is not stored in the emotion estimation-oriented database 87,the control circuit 81D searches the database for an emotional statewith the pen state information matching the general associatedinformation, and estimates the matching emotional state as the emotionalstate of the user having made the emotional state estimation request(S306). The control circuit 81D then generates providing informationassociated with the estimated emotional state, and transmits thegenerated information to the party that made the emotional stateestimation request (S307).

The emotion estimation process performed by the emotion server apparatus8D is then brought to an end.

[Display Process Associated with the Emotional State Estimated for theTablet Terminal]

Suppose, for example, that the users 3 ₁, . . . , 3 _(n) are studentsmaking input for learning using the electronic pens 1 ₁, . . . , 1 _(n)in dealing with learning materials displayed on the display screens ofthe tablet terminals 2D₁, . . . , 2D_(n), respectively.

In this case, where the emotional state estimated by the emotion serverapparatus 8D is the “concentrated state,” for example, the emotionserver apparatus 8D may provide character information such as “You havegood concentration. Way to go!” as the providing information illustratedin Subfigure (A) in FIG. 18 . Where the emotional state estimated by theemotion server apparatus 8D is the “distracted state” or “irritatedstate,” for example, the emotion server apparatus 8D may providecharacter information such as “You need concentration”. Hang in there”depicted in Subfigure (B) in FIG. 18 . The character information servesas a pep talk with respect to the emotional state of the student, andthereby boosts the student's learning effectiveness.

As another example, in addition to displaying the emotional state of theelectronic pen user in real time, the pen state information obtainedfrom the electronic pen may be recorded for subsequent understanding ofthe emotional state of the user at the time of using the electronic pen.For example, if the pen state information is attached to a handwrittenmessage sent to a relative, the relative who opens the message canreceive the sender's emotion (e.g., gratitude) at the time the messagewas written along with the handwritten message. That is, not only thehandwritten characters but also the emotion may be transmitted. Thehandwritten messages include a thank-you letter and a testament, amongothers.

Moreover, because the user's emotional state is estimated from the penstate information, the authenticity of documents such as a contract maybe discriminated using the emotional state estimated from the pen stateinformation regarding the signer who signed on the signature line, forexample.

It was explained in connection with the embodiments above that thedatabase building system and the emotion estimation system are separateentities. However, as discussed above, the emotion server apparatus 8Dis configured to support both systems as depicted in FIG. 15 . Thus theemotion server apparatus 8D may serve as a single system that includesboth the database building system and the emotion estimation systemdescribed above. In the single system, the emotion server apparatus 8Dmay switch between the operations of the database building system andthose of the emotion estimation system.

Specifically, where it is discriminated that the information transmittedfrom the association processing device 4 or from the tablet terminal 2Aor 2B includes biological information such as brain wave data, simplebrain wave data, pulse rate, or blood flow or the emotional stateidentification information S1 to S5, the emotion server apparatus 8Doperates as the database building system.

On the other hand, where it is discriminated that the informationtransmitted from the association processing device 4 or from the tabletterminal 2A or 2B to the emotion server apparatus 8D does not includebiological information such as brain wave data, simple brain wave data,pulse rate, or blood flow or the emotional state identificationinformation S1 to S5, the emotion server apparatus 8D operates as theemotion estimation system. In this case, the emotion server apparatus 8Dperforms the process of estimating the user's emotion based on the penstate information and of providing the user with information regardingthe estimated emotional state, for example.

Alternatively, information such as a flag specifying the use either asthe database building system or as the emotion estimation system may beincluded in the signal transmitted from the association processingdevice 4, the tablet terminal 2A or 2B to the emotion server apparatus8D. In this case, there is no need for the emotion server apparatus 8Dto detect whether the biological information such as brain wave data,simple brain wave data, pule rate, or blood flow or the emotional stateidentification information S1 to S5 is included in the signaltransmitted from the tablet terminal 2A or 2B to the server apparatus.Detection of the flag information need only be carried out fordiscrimination purposes.

Variations of the Above Embodiments

The pen state information is not limited to what was discussed above inconjunction with the examples. For example, sensors may be mounted onthe grip portion of the electronic pen to detect the position held bythe user and the strength with which the pen is gripped. The pen holdingposition and the pen gripping strength thus detected may be used as thepen state information. As another example, a sensor (sweat sensor) maybe mounted on the grip portion of the pen to detect the user's sweatingrate reflecting his or her psychological state. The detected sweatingrate may then be used as the pen state information.

It was explained in connection with the examples above that the databaseis built using the biological information and the pen state informationin association with one another, the biological information includingbrain wave data, simple brain wave data, pulse rate or blood flow, thetwo types of information being transmitted from the associationprocessing device 4 or from the tablet terminal 2A or 2B to the emotionserver apparatus 8 via the communication network 7. Alternatively, theemotion server 8 may be included in the association processing device 4or in the tablet terminal 2. That is, the database may be built insidethe association processing device 4 or in the tablet terminal 2A or 2B.This allows the process of emotion estimation to be alleviated by anamount reflecting the absence of data transmission through thecommunication network.

It was also explained in connection with the embodiments above that thepen ID identifying the electronic pen used by the user is stored in theemotional state-oriented database as the identification informationidentifying the user. However, if the user makes exclusive use of thetablet terminal as his or her own, the pen ID may be replaced withidentification information (terminal ID) identifying both the tabletterminal and the user. In the case where the tablet terminal constitutesthe coordinate input processing apparatus, the terminal ID of the tabletterminal also serves as a device ID identifying the coordinate inputprocessing apparatus.

In such cases, the tablet terminal or the coordinate input processingapparatus may have its terminal ID or device ID stored in the storagedevice. In the database building system, the terminal ID or the deviceID thus stored is associated with the biological information and penstate information for emotional state discrimination when transmitted tothe emotion server apparatus. The terminal ID or the device ID is storedinto the emotion estimation database in association with the emotionalstates resulting from the discrimination process and with the rangeinformation regarding the range of pen state information.

In the case of the emotion estimation system, the coordinate inputprocessing apparatus places its device ID or the terminal ID stored inthe storage device of the tablet terminal into the emotional stateestimation request before transmitting the request to the emotion serverapparatus.

Alternatively, the coordinate input processing apparatus may beconfigured using the tablet terminal including the position detectionapparatus and an information processing apparatus including a computerfurnished with a display. In this case, the device ID may be used as theidentification information identifying the information processingapparatus.

It was also explained in connection with the embodiments above that theelectronic pen and the tablet terminal operate by electromagneticinduction coupling technology. Alternatively, the electronic pen and thetablet terminal operating by the capacitive coupling method may be usedas well. Although it was explained above that the writing pressure isdetected using the capacitance of a variable capacitor, the writingpressure may alternatively be detected using changes in inductance in asuitable configuration.

Other Embodiments or Variations

<Formats of Signals Transmitted from the Association Processing Device 4or from the Tablet Terminal 2A or 2B to the Emotion Server Apparatus 8or 8D>

Explained below with reference to FIG. 19 are some typical formats ofsignals transmitted from the association processing device 4 or from thetablet terminal 2A or 2B to the emotion server apparatus 8 or 8D. It isassumed for the subsequent explanation that the function of theassociation processing device 4 is included in a tablet terminal TE.

In the examples of FIG. 19 , the tablet terminal TE detects as theelectronic pen-related information the coordinate data (X, Y) of thepointed position, writing pressure data P, tilt data S, and heightposition data H making up the pen state information, as well as the penID from the position detection signal and added information from theelectronic pen. From the electroencephalograph or like equipment,biological information E such as brain wave data for discriminating aperson's emotional state is input to the tablet terminal TE. In theseexamples, the pen ID is added so that the pen state information isstored for each electronic pen user in a database configured to permitacquisition of the relations between each electronic pen user and his orher emotional states. The pen ID need not be included in the signalformat in the case where what needs to be obtained is not the relationsbetween the pen state information and the emotional states of eachelectronic pen user but the relations between the general pen stateinformation and the emotional states of all pen users.

In the example of Subfigure (A) in FIG. 19 , the tablet terminal TEtransmits the electronic pen-related information and biologicalinformation E for emotional state discrimination in separate signals tothe emotion server apparatus 8 via the communication network 7. However,the emotion server apparatus 8 stores in its memory the simultaneouslytransmitted electronic pen-related information and biologicalinformation E for emotional state discrimination in association witheach other. In this case, as depicted in Subfigure (A) in FIG. 19 , theelectronic pen-related information is transmitted repeatedly to theemotion server apparatus 8 in a signal format in which the coordinatedata (X, Y) of the pointed position, writing pressure data P, tilt dataS, height position data H, time (at which coordinates were input) T, andpen ID are arranged in that order, for example.

Next, in the example of Subfigure (B) in FIG. 19 , the tablet terminalTE transmits repeatedly to the emotion server apparatus 8 the electronicpen-related information and the biological information E for emotionalstate discrimination in a single signal format. In this case, asdepicted in Subfigure (B) in FIG. 19 , the coordinate data (X, Y) of thepointed position, writing pressure data P, tilt data S, height positiondata H, time T, pen ID, and biological information E are arranged, inthat order, for example, in the format of the signal transmittedrepeatedly to the emotion server apparatus 8.

The example in Subfigure (C) in FIG. 19 addresses a case of theembodiment of the above-described emotion estimation system. Given inthis case is a typical format of the signal in which the tablet terminalTE transmits the pen state information to the emotion server apparatus8D and in which the emotion server apparatus 8D returns informationindicative of the emotional states estimated with regard to the penstate information from the tablet terminal TE (the returned informationindicates the relaxed, concentrated, irritated, distracted, or angrystate).

In the case above, as illustrated in Subfigure (C) in FIG. 19 , thetablet terminal TE transmits the signal in a format in which thecoordinate data (X, Y) of the pointed position, writing pressure data P,tilt data S, height position data H, time T, and pen ID are arranged, inthat order, for example, as the electronic pen-related informationfollowed by an empty space (empty area or empty field) for accommodatingthe information ED indicative of the emotional state. In the example ofSubfigure (C) in FIG. 19 , the signal in this format is transmittedrepeatedly to the emotion server apparatus 8D via the communicationnetwork 7.

In place of the empty space for the information ED indicative of theemotional state, there may be included either meaningless data such asall zeros as the information ED indicative of the emotional state orinformation representative of the emotional state estimation request.Alternatively, even if an explicit emotional state estimation request isnot included in the empty space, upon receipt of a signal in a formatthat includes the empty space for the information ED indicative of theemotional state or a signal in a format that includes meaningless datasuch as all zeros as the information ED indicative of the emotionalstate, the emotion server apparatus 8D may discriminate that signal asone accompanied by the emotional state estimation request.

When returning information to the tablet terminal TE, the emotion serverapparatus 8D inserts the information ED indicative of the emotionalstate estimated from the pen state information into the empty space ofthe format of the transmitted signal, as depicted in Subfigure (C) inFIG. 19 . The returned information thus includes both the pen stateinformation and the information ED indicative of the emotional stateestimated from the pen state information in a single signal format. Thatis, it is known that the pen state information included in the signalformat was written in the emotional state indicated by the informationED for emotional state indication. Thus adopting the signal formatdepicted in Subfigure (C) in FIG. 19 provides the benefit of the penstate information being transmitted or retained together with theinformation ED indicative of the emotional state in which the pen stateinformation was written, thereby permitting multipurpose use of the penstate information.

Another Embodiment of the Emotion Estimation System: An Example thatUses Artificial Intelligence

Recent years have witnessed the burgeoning of massive data beingprocessed (through machine learning) using neural networks calledartificial intelligence (AI). Techniques have been devised to deriveregularity from large amounts of data.

Machine learning is one mechanism of neural networks. There are twokinds of machine learning: supervised learning and unsupervisedlearning. Supervised learning has a “question-answer” formatcharacterized by “learning of the relation between input and output” and“prediction of output from input.”

Supervised machine learning is a method used where there exist largeamounts of input data from which large amounts of output data arederived and where there are multiple layers (layer, characteristicextraction layer, hidden layer) of paths along which the output isderived from the input data, the input data being divided and integratedby characteristic in each of the layers, the input data being furtherweighted while subjected to feedback even as their weights aredynamically changed little by little in order to approach the outputdata. Recalculation of data with their weights dynamically changedlittle by little has been made possible by faster calculation processingin recent years, which has enabled machine learning.

The emotion server apparatus of the emotion estimation system in thisembodiment performs the above-described machine learning on theinformation stored in the emotion estimation-oriented database. From thepen state information regarding a person who writes with the electronicpen, the emotion server apparatus thus generates trained data forestimating the emotional state of that person. Using the trained data,the emotion server apparatus estimates, from the pen state informationregarding the person who writes with the electronic pen, the emotionalstate of that person at the time of writing.

That is, the emotion server apparatus of this embodiment acquiresvarious characteristic amounts (coordinates, pressure, tilt, height,etc.) making up the pen state information as the information about thehandwriting (called the handwriting data hereunder) of the person whowrote with the electronic pen. At this time, the person's emotions areestimated from the biological information intended for emotional stateestimation such as brain wave data from a brain wave data detectionapparatus. The information regarding the relations between thecharacteristic amounts of handwriting data (coordinates, pressure, tilt,height, etc.) on the one hand and the estimated emotions on the otherhand is then accumulated in large quantities in a database. In thiscase, the characteristic amounts of handwriting data (coordinates,pressure, tilt, height, etc.) manifests a specific distribution withregard to each emotional state. Thus the database permits acquisition ofthe distribution of the characteristic amounts of handwriting dataapplicable to each emotional state. When the characteristic amounts ofhandwriting data at the time of writing with the electronic pen aredetermined to fall within the distribution of the characteristic amountsassociated with a specific emotional state, the determination permitsestimation of the emotional state of the person at the time of writingwith the electronic pen.

With this embodiment, large quantities of data are analyzed by machinelearning with new techniques in order to put into a matrix (tensor,trained data; see the matrix in FIG. 20 ) the relations between inputdata (characteristic amounts of handwriting data) and output data(emotions). This permits instantaneous deriving of the output data(emotions) from the input data (characteristic amounts of handwritingdata), which contributes significantly to implementing fasterprocessing. By establishing trained data, this embodiment allowsemotions to be derived from handwriting data through calculations on asmall scale.

The handwriting data has numerous characteristic amounts. Specifically,as described above, the data includes the coordinates (X, Y) of theposition pointed by the electronic pen, writing pressure, height, tilt,writing speed, and their variations (differential values). What isimportant is which characteristic amounts are to be input to bring outan optimum emotion in carrying out efficient machine learning.

Multiple characteristic amounts are derived from the handwriting dataassociated with a specific emotion. Although it is possible to derivethe emotion from the trained data derived from one specificcharacteristic amount, the estimation of emotion with higher accuracy ismade possible by combining the trained data from the learning based onmultiple characteristic amounts.

The operators for obtaining trained data are constituted by neuralnetworks. They make up an input layer serving as the input and an outputlayer as the output, with multiple layers (characteristic extractionlayers) interposed therebetween. The input data is divided into multipleitems that are fitted to the elements of each layer (characteristicextraction layer). The fitting is accomplished by each of the elementsbeing weighted in each layer. The weights of the elements in therespective layers are put into a matrix that constitutes a weight matrix(tensor, trained model). The weight matrix is allowed to be updated.

Below is an explanation of how machine learning is carried out.

<Preliminary Step>

(Building of a Database)

The characteristic amounts of handwriting data such as data about thecoordinates (X, Y) of the pointed position, pressure, height, tilt, andtime are received from the tablet terminal. From theelectroencephalograph or like equipment, the data about the emotionalstates categorized on the basis of brain wave data is received. Thehandwriting data and the emotional state data are associated with oneanother and stored in the database. The emotional state data in thiscase may include, besides the measurement data from theelectroencephalograph, categorized types of emotions (e.g., “anger,”“delight”) derived from the measurement data.

<First Step>

(Preparation of Learning Data Sets)

On the basis of the handwriting data stored in the database, learningdata sets are prepared for each item of the handwriting data. Thelearning data sets include the coordinates (X, Y) of the pointedposition, pressure, height, and tilt making up the pen stateinformation, as well as variations (differential values) calculated fromthese values, and the writing speed and its variations calculated fromthe time T and from the pointed position coordinates (X, Y).

<Second Step>

(Preparation of the Trained Model: 1)

From the prepared learning data sets, specific handwriting data isselected, and specific characteristic amounts are also selected. Theselected data is suitably divided before being set to the input layer ofthe operators. The types of the emotional states based on the specifichandwriting data above are set to the output layer of the operators.

For example, from the specific handwriting data (“

”), a specific characteristic amount (coordinates X, Y) is selected asthe input data. The selected input data is divided as described abovebefore being set to the input layer. The emotional state set to the sameoutput layer as that of the emotional state associated with the specifichandwriting data above is set as “true” or “hit.”

<Third Step>

(Preparation of the Trained Model: 2)

The operators are used to vary the weight of each of the elements inorder to approach the emotional state as the output data associated withthe handwriting data constituting the input data. The weights arearranged into a weight matrix (tensor) that is updated every time aweight is varied.

<Fourth Step>

(Preparation of the Trained Model: 3)

Large quantities of handwriting data and biological information dataregarding the emotional states are input to create the most appropriateweight matrix (tensor) satisfied by all data. This completes the traineddata regarding each of the characteristic amounts of the handwritingdata associated with each of the emotional states.

<Fifth Step>

(Utilization of the Trained Model)

When the characteristic amounts of newly generated handwriting data aretransmitted from the tablet terminal to the emotion server apparatustogether with an emotion estimation request, the emotion serverapparatus estimates the emotional state associated with thecharacteristic amounts of handwriting data of which the distributionencompasses the characteristic amounts of the newly generatedhandwriting data, the estimation being made on the basis of the traineddata for each of the characteristic amounts of the handwriting datagenerated as described above.

For example, if the handwriting data regarding the electronic pen issupplied to the emotion server apparatus in the signal format depictedin Subfigure (C) in FIG. 19 , the emotion server apparatus estimates theemotional state associated with the characteristic amounts of theincoming handwriting data by use of the trained data about each of thecharacteristic amounts generated as discussed above. The emotion serverapparatus then generates a signal ED of return information indicative ofthe estimated emotional state as depicted in Subfigure (C) in FIG. 19 ,and returns the signal ED to the tablet terminal.

In this case, the emotion server apparatus need not examine thedistribution of the handwriting data from the tablet terminal TE withregard to the emotion estimation request. Instead, the emotion serverapparatus may use the trained data about each of the characteristicamounts of the handwriting data so as to obtain the emotional state asthe output data. It is thus possible to derive the emotional state fromthe handwriting data through calculations on a limited scale.

Once the trained data is prepared with regard to each of thecharacteristic amounts of handwriting data generated by the emotionserver apparatus of this embodiment, the trained data may be stored, forexample, in the tablet terminal or in the personal computer thatprocesses the handwriting data from the tablet terminal. This allows thetablet terminal or the personal computer to estimate the emotional statefrom the handwriting data using the trained data stored therein.

In the above example of AI, it is obviously possible to generate thetrained data about each electronic pen user by associating the pen stateinformation with each pen ID, or to generate the trained data not foruse with regard to individual users but for general use.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

1, 1A, 1B ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ Electronic pen, 2, 2A, 2B, 2D ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ Tablet terminal, 4 ⋅⋅ ⋅ Association processing device, 5 ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ Electroencephalograph, 5A ⋅ ⋅⋅ Simple electroencephalograph, 5B ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ Biological informationdetection apparatus, 7, 7D ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ Communication network, 8, 8D ⋅ ⋅ ⋅Emotion server apparatus, 87 ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ Emotion estimation-oriented database,88 ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ Emotional state estimation request reception circuit, 89 ⋅ ⋅ ⋅Emotional state estimation circuit, 90 ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ Providing informationgeneration circuit, 234 ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ Emotional state estimation requestgeneration circuit

What is claimed is:
 1. A coordinate input processing apparatuscomprising: a position detection apparatus that includes a sensor which,in operation, detects a position pointed to by an electronic pen, andcircuitry which, in operation, acquires pen state information regardinga state of the electronic pen held by a person; and a communicationcircuit which, in operation, transmits to an emotion estimationapparatus coordinates corresponding to the position pointed to by theelectronic pen and the pen state information in an emotional stateestimation request having a format that includes a plurality of fieldsconfigured to respectively store the coordinates corresponding to theposition pointed to by the electronic pen, the pen state information,and information regarding a distracted state of the person holding theelectronic pen, and receives from the emotion estimation apparatus thecoordinates corresponding to the position pointed to by the electronicpen, the pen state information included in the emotional stateestimation request, and the information regarding the distracted stateof the person holding the electronic pen in an emotional stateestimation response having the format that includes the plurality offields configured to respectively store the coordinates corresponding tothe position pointed to by the electronic pen, the pen stateinformation, and the information regarding the distracted state of theperson holding the electronic pen.
 2. The coordinate input processingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein: the position detectionapparatus acquires identification information regarding the electronicpen from the electronic pen, the communication circuit, in operation,transmits to the emotion estimation apparatus the coordinatescorresponding to the position pointed to by the electronic pen, the penstate information, and the identification information regarding theelectronic pen, the plurality of fields of the emotion estimationrequest is configured to respectively store the coordinatescorresponding to the position pointed to by the electronic pen, the penstate information, the identification information regarding theelectronic pen, and the information regarding the distracted state ofthe person holding the electronic pen, and the plurality of fields ofthe emotion estimation response is configured to respectively store thecoordinates corresponding to the position pointed to by the electronicpen, the pen state information, the identification information regardingthe electronic pen, and the information regarding the distracted stateof the person holding the electronic pen.
 3. The coordinate inputprocessing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a storagedevice which, in operation, stores identification information regardingthe coordinate input processing apparatus, wherein: the communicationcircuit, in operation, transmits to the emotion estimation apparatus thecoordinates corresponding to the position pointed to by the electronicpen, the pen state information acquired by the position detectionapparatus, and the identification information regarding the coordinateinput processing apparatus read from the storage device.
 4. Thecoordinate input processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thecoordinate input processing apparatus further comprises: a displaydevice that includes a display screen; and a processor which, inoperation, causes the information regarding to the distracted statereceived from the emotion estimation apparatus to be reflected in animage on the display screen.
 5. The coordinate input processingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pen state informationincludes information regarding a writing pressure applied to theelectronic pen, a tilt of the electronic pen relative to a pointinginput surface, a height of the electronic pen from the pointing inputsurface, a movement of the electronic pen detected on the pointing inputsurface, and a movement speed of pointing input with the electronic pen.6. The coordinate input processing apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the position detection apparatus and the communication circuitare included in an information processing apparatus.
 7. The coordinateinput processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the positiondetection apparatus and an information processing apparatus includingthe communication circuit are separate and are connected with oneanother in a wired or a wireless fashion.
 8. An emotion estimationapparatus comprising: a communication circuit which, in operation,receives coordinates corresponding to a position pointed to by anelectronic pen and pen state information acquired by a positiondetection apparatus in an emotional state estimation request having aformat that includes a plurality of fields configured to respectivelystore the coordinates corresponding to the position pointed to by theelectronic pen, the pen state information, and information regarding adistracted state of a person holding the electronic pen; an emotionestimation-oriented information storage device which, in operation,stores information regarding the distracted state of the person holdingthe electronic pen and range information regarding a range of valuesthat may be taken by the coordinates corresponding to the positionpointed to by the electronic pen and the pen state information regardinga state of the electronic pen held by the person at a time of being inthe distracted state, the information regarding the distracted state andthe range information being associated with one another; and a processorwhich, upon receipt of the emotional state estimation request from acoordinate input processing apparatus, estimates the distracted state ofthe person holding the electronic pen having transmitted the emotionalstate estimation request by referencing the emotion estimation-orientedinformation storage device, and generates an emotional state estimationresponse including the information regarding the estimated distractedstate of the person holding the electronic pen, the emotional stateestimation response having the format that includes the plurality offields configured to respectively store the coordinates corresponding tothe position pointed to by the electronic pen, the pen stateinformation, and the information regarding the distracted state of theperson holding the electronic pen.
 9. The emotion estimation apparatusaccording to claim 8, wherein the processor, in operation, notifies aparty that transmitted the emotional state estimation request of theestimated distracted state.
 10. The emotion estimation apparatusaccording to claim 8, wherein: the emotion estimation-orientedinformation storage device stores the information regarding thedistracted state and the range information regarding the range of valuesthat may be taken by the coordinates corresponding to the positionpointed to by the electronic pen, the pen state information regardingthe state of the electronic pen held by the person performing pointinginput at the time of being in the distracted state, the informationregarding the distracted state and the range information beingassociated with identification information identifying the personmanifesting the distracted state, wherein the range information that maybe taken by the coordinates corresponding to the position pointed to bythe electronic pen include a first range of coordinates corresponding tothe position pointed to by the electronic pen while a sensor is incontact with the electronic pen and a second range of coordinatescorresponding to the position pointed to by the electronic pen while thesensor is not in contact with the electronic pen; and upon receipt ofthe emotional state estimation request including the pen stateinformation regarding the state of the electronic pen and theidentification information identifying the person manifesting thedistracted state, the processor references the information stored in theemotion estimation-oriented information storage device in associationwith the identification information identifying the person manifestingthe distracted state.
 11. The emotion estimation apparatus according toclaim 10, wherein the identification information identifies theelectronic pen held by the person.
 12. The emotion estimation apparatusaccording to claim 10, wherein the identification information identifiesan electronic device including a position detection apparatus thatdetects pointing input performed with the electronic pen held by theperson.
 13. The emotion estimation apparatus according to claim 9,wherein: the pen state information includes writing pressure data, tiltdata, height position data, time data, and pen identification data, andthe plurality of fields is configured to respectively store thecoordinates corresponding to the position pointed to by the electronicpen, the writing pressure data, the tilt data, the height position data,the time data, and the pen identification data.
 14. An emotionestimation system comprising: a coordinate input processing apparatus;and an emotion estimation apparatus connected with the coordinate inputprocessing apparatus via a communication network, wherein the coordinateinput processing apparatus includes: an electronic pen; a positiondetection apparatus that includes a sensor which, in operation, detectsa position pointed to by the electronic pen, and circuitry, which inoperation, acquires pen state information regarding a state of theelectronic pen held by a person; and a communication circuit which, inoperation, receives coordinates corresponding to the position pointed toby the electronic pen and the pen state information, and transmits tothe emotion estimation apparatus coordinates corresponding to theposition pointed to by the electronic pen and the pen state informationin an emotional state estimation request having a format that includes aplurality of fields configured to respectively store the coordinatescorresponding to the position pointed to by the electronic pen, the penstate information, and information regarding a distracted state of theperson holding the electronic pen; and wherein the emotion estimationapparatus includes: a receiver which, in operation, receives thecoordinates corresponding to the position pointed to by the electronicpen and the pen state information in the format that includes theplurality of fields configured to respectively store the coordinatescorresponding to the position pointed to by the electronic pen, the penstate information acquired by the position detection apparatus, and theinformation regarding the distracted state of the person holding theelectronic pen; an emotion estimation-oriented information storagedevice which, in operation, stores information regarding to thedistracted state of the person holding the electronic pen and rangeinformation regarding a range of values that may be taken by thecoordinates corresponding to the position pointed to by the electronicpen and the pen state information regarding the state of the electronicpen held by the person at a time of being in the distracted state, theinformation regarding to the distracted state and the range informationbeing associated with one another; and a processor which, in operation,upon receipt of an emotional state estimation request, estimates thedistracted state of a person holding the electronic pen havingtransmitted the emotional state estimation request by referencing theemotion estimation-oriented information storage device, and generates anemotional state estimation response including the coordinatescorresponding to the position pointed to by the electronic pen, the penstate information acquired by the position detection apparatus, and theinformation corresponding to the estimated distracted state, in theformat that includes the plurality of fields configured to respectivelystore the coordinates corresponding to the position pointed to by theelectronic pen, the pen state information acquired by the positiondetection apparatus, and the information regarding the distracted stateof the person holding the electronic pen.
 15. The emotion estimationsystem according to claim 14, wherein: the pen state informationincludes writing pressure data, tilt data, height position data, timedata, and pen identification data, and the plurality of fields isconfigured to store the coordinates corresponding to the positionpointed to by the electronic pen, the writing pressure data, the tiltdata, the height position data, the time data, and the penidentification data.
 16. A building apparatus that builds an emotionestimation-oriented information storage device, the building apparatuscomprising: at least one processor; and at least one storage devicestoring processor-readable instructions that, when executed by the atleast one processor, cause the building apparatus to: acquire movementinformation regarding a movement of a person performing pointing inputusing an electronic pen; acquire pen state information regarding thestate of the electronic pen held by the person performing the pointinginput and associated with the acquired movement information;discriminate a distracted state of the person holding the electronic penbased on the movement information; obtain range information regarding arange of values that may be taken by the coordinates corresponding to aposition pointed to by the electronic pen and the pen state informationat a time of the distracted state from the acquired pen stateinformation, wherein the range information includes a first range ofcoordinates corresponding to a plurality of positions pointed to by theelectronic pen while a sensor is in contact with the electronic pen anda second range of coordinates corresponding to a plurality of positionspointed to by the electronic pen while the sensor is not in contact withthe electronic pen; store information regarding the distracted state andthe range information regarding the range of values that may be taken bythe coordinates corresponding to the position pointed to by theelectronic pen and the pen state information into the emotionestimation-oriented information storage device, the informationregarding the distracted state and the range information beingassociated with one another; receive an emotional state estimationrequest; and generate an emotional state estimation response includingthe information regarding the distracted state.
 17. The buildingapparatus that builds the emotion estimation-oriented informationstorage device according to claim 16, wherein the processor-readableinstructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause thebuilding apparatus to: acquire identification information identifyingthe person manifesting the distracted state in association with the penstate information; and store the information regarding the distractedstate, the range information regarding the range in which the pen stateinformation is present, and identification information identifying theelectronic pen into the emotion estimation-oriented information storagedevice, the information regarding the distracted state being associatedwith the range information and the identification information.
 18. Thebuilding apparatus that builds the emotion estimation-orientedinformation storage device according to claim 17, wherein theidentification information is identification information regarding theelectronic pen held by the person.
 19. The building apparatus thatbuilds the emotion estimation-oriented information storage deviceaccording to claim 17, wherein the identification information isidentification information regarding an electronic device including aposition detection apparatus that detects pointing input performed withthe electronic pen held by the person.
 20. The building apparatus thatbuilds the emotion estimation-oriented information storage according toclaim 19, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least oneprocessor, cause the building apparatus to: obtain range informationregarding a range of values corresponding to a height of the electronicpen above a sensor surface; and store information regarding the range ofvalues corresponding to the height of the electronic pen above thesensor surface, information regarding the range of values correspondingto the height of the electronic pen above the sensor surface beingassociated with the information regarding the distracted state and therange information.
 21. The building apparatus for building the emotionestimation-oriented information storage device according to claim 16,wherein: the electronic pen includes a receiver which, in operation,receives the movement information by wireless communication, theelectronic pen further supplying a position detection apparatus with themovement information received by the receiver, the electronic penincludes the movement information in information added to a positiondetection signal transmitted by the electronic pen; and theprocessor-readable instructions, when executed by the at least oneprocessor, cause the building apparatus to acquire the movementinformation and the pen state information from the position detectionsignal transmitted by the position detection apparatus.
 22. An emotionestimation system comprising: a coordinate input processing apparatusincluding an electronic pen, a sensor which, in operation, detects aposition pointed by the electronic pen, circuitry which, in operation,acquires pen state information regarding the electronic pen held by aperson, and a communication circuit which, in operation, transmitscoordinates corresponding to the position pointed to by the electronicpen and the pen state information in an emotional state estimationrequest having a format that includes a plurality of fields configuredto respectively store the coordinates corresponding to the positionpointed to by the electronic pen, the pen state information, andinformation regarding a distracted state the person holding theelectronic pen; and an emotion estimation apparatus including at leastone processor, and at least one storage device storingprocessor-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least oneprocessor, cause the emotion estimation apparatus to acquire thecoordinates corresponding to the position pointed to by the electronicpen and pen state information from the emotional state estimationrequest transmitted by the coordinate input processing apparatus and toacquire movement information, and an emotion estimation-orientedinformation storage device which, in operation, stores informationregarding a distracted state of the person holding the electronic penand range information regarding a range of values that may be taken bythe coordinates corresponding to the position pointed to by theelectronic pen and the pen state information, the information regardingthe distracted state and the range information being associated with oneanother; wherein the communication circuit of the coordinate inputprocessing apparatus, in operation: receives information that identifieseither the movement information or the distracted state discriminatedfrom the movement information; and transmits to the emotion estimationapparatus an emotional state estimation request including thecoordinates corresponding to the position pointed to by the electronicpen and the pen state information acquired by the coordinate inputprocessing apparatus; and wherein the at least one storage device storesprocessor-readable instructions, when executed by the at least oneprocessor, causes the emotion estimation apparatus to: upon receipt of adata building request from the coordinate input processing apparatus,store into the emotion estimation-oriented information storage devicethe information regarding the distracted state of the person holding theelectronic pen and the range information regarding the range of valuesthat may be taken by the pen state information regarding the state ofthe electronic pen held by the person at a time of being in thedistracted state, the information regarding the distracted state and therange information being associated with one another; and upon receipt ofthe emotion estimation request from the coordinate input processingapparatus, estimate the distracted state of the person holding theelectronic pen having transmitted the emotional state estimation requestby referencing the emotion estimation-oriented information storagedevice by use of the pen state information, generates an emotional stateestimation response including the coordinates corresponding to theposition pointed to by the electronic pen, the pen state information,and information corresponding to the distracted state, and return thegenerated information to the coordinate input processing apparatushaving made the emotional state estimation request, the emotional stateestimation response having the format that includes the plurality offields configured to respectively store the coordinates corresponding tothe position pointed to by the electronic pen, the pen stateinformation, and the information regarding the distracted state of theperson holding the electronic pen.
 23. The emotion estimation systemaccording to claim 22, wherein: the pen state information includescoordinate data, writing pressure data, tilt data, height position data,time data, and pen identification data, and the plurality of fields isconfigured to respectively store the coordinate data, the writingpressure data, the tilt data, the height position data, the time data,the pen identification data, and the movement information.
 24. Anemotion estimation apparatus comprising: a communication circuit which,in operation, receives coordinates corresponding to a position pointedto by an electronic pen and pen state information acquired by a positiondetection apparatus in an emotional state estimation request having aformat that includes a plurality of fields configured to respectivelystore the coordinates corresponding to a position pointed to by theelectronic pen and the pen state information, information regarding adistracted state of the person holding the electronic pen; at least oneprocessor; and at least one storage device storing processor-readableinstructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, causethe emotion estimation apparatus to: store information regarding adistracted state of a person holding the electronic pen and pen stateinformation regarding the state of the electronic pen held by the personat a time of being in the distracted state, the information regardingthe distracted state and the pen state information being associated withone another; generate trained data by performing machine learning usingthe pen state information acquired by the position detection apparatusand movement information detected by a movement information detectionapparatus worn by the person holding the electronic pen; upon receipt ofthe emotional state estimation request including the pen stateinformation regarding the electronic pen, using the trained data toestimate the distracted state of the person holding the electronic penhaving transmitted the emotional state estimation request based on thepen state information; and generate an emotional state estimationresponse including the coordinates corresponding to the position pointedto by the electronic pen, the pen state information, and the informationregarding the distracted state of the person holding the electronic pen,the emotional state estimation response having the format that includesthe plurality of fields configured to respectively store the coordinatescorresponding to the position pointed to by the electronic pen, the penstate information, and the information regarding the distracted state ofthe person holding the electronic pen.
 25. The emotion estimationapparatus according to claim 24, wherein the pen state informationcomprises a plurality of characteristic amounts; and the trained data isgenerated for each of the plurality of characteristic amounts in the penstate information.
 26. The emotion estimation apparatus according toclaim 24, wherein the pen state information includes coordinate data,writing pressure data, tilt data, height position data, time data, andpen identification data, and the plurality of fields is configured tostore coordinate data, the writing pressure data, the tilt data, theheight position data, the time data, the pen identification data, andthe movement information.